The more diverse and ubiquitous the internet gets, the harder it becomes to measure. Especially with the mobile version’s rapid growth. A few weeks ago, my friends from the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) asked for a presentation discussing audience measurements for smartphones and tablets. The target was a conference held last Friday in Boston. Since I didn’t have a clue, I assumed I could work on the presentation in a journalistic way, by reaching out to people in the trade and by doing my own research. Only to realize the mobile internet is well ahead of any of today’s usage measurement tools.
Audience measurement is much more complex on mobile devices than it is on PCs. The world of personal computers is relatively simple. PCs surf through a well-documented set of browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari (see their respective market shares here). The connection happens either through an ISP wire or via wifi. On the server side, each request is compiled into a log for further analysis.
In the mobile world, there are many more variations. The first dimension is the diversity of devices and operating systems. The real mobile ecosystem extends well beyond the pristine simplicity of the Apple world with its two main devices — the iPhone and the iPad, only one screen size for each — powered by iOS.
Android, the ultra fast growing mobile OS made by Google, is found on 95 170 (!) different devices. Each comes with its (almost) unique combination of screen size and hardware/software features; “small” differences translate into a nightmare for applications developers. There is more: the mobile ecosystem also comprises platforms such as Windows Phone devices, the well-controlled Blackberry, Palm’s WebOS (now in HP’s hands), Samsung’s Bada and the multiple flavors of Symbian, to be followed by Meego. Each platform sprouts many devices and browsing variants.
Then, we have applications. Apps are fantastic at taking advantage of the senses of smartphones and tablets. An app can see (though the device’s camera), hear (with the microphone), understand language, talk back; it can search — the Yellow Pages for a location or the web for an explanation; it can feel motion thanks to the smartphone motion detectors and gyroscopes ; it can navigate through GPS or cell tower/wifi triangulation; and of course, it can connect to a world of other devices. This results in an unprecedented canvas for the creativity of app developers. According to recents studies, apps account for about half of the internet connections coming from smartphones. It is therefore critical to analyze such traffic. But, to say the least, we are not there yet.
One example of the measurement challenge: a news related application. The first measure of an app’s success is its downloads count. In theory, pretty simple. Each time an app is downloaded, the store (Apple’s or any other) records the transaction. Then, things gets fuzzier as the application lives on and gets regular updates. Sometimes, updates are upgrades, with new features. At which point should the app be considered new — especially when it’s free, like most of the news-related ones? Second difficulty: a growing number of apps will be preloaded into smartphones and tablets. Rightly or wrongly, Apple nixes such meddling with its devices. But, outside of the iOS world, cellphone carriers do strike deals with content providers and preload apps on Android devices. That’s another hard to get number.
We might believe the app’s activation provides a measurable event that settles the issue. It doesn’t. Let’s continue with the news app example. When launched from a smartphone or a tablet, the app sends a burst of “http” requests to the web server. How many? It depends on the app’s design and default settings. There could be 20, 30, or more streams loading in the background. The purpose is instant gratification: when the user requests the most likely item, such as “hottest news”, the content shows instantly for having been preloaded. This results in several uncertainties in the counting process.
From the server standpoint, the pages have been served. But how many of those have been actually read and for how long? What if I tweak my app’s setting, selecting some items and removing others? In an ideal world, a tracking task running inside the application would provide the accurate, up-to-date information. Each time the app runs, the tracker records every finger stroke (or swipe) and, whenever possible, feeds everything back to the publisher. But the OS gamut and other technical permutations makes this difficult. As for Apple, tracker code inside its apps is a no-no (although there are signs of an upcoming flexibility in that matter).
Even a well-implemented tracker module isn’t the perfect solution, though. For example, it doesn’t solve the issue of apps running in the background and downloading streams of data, unbeknownst to the user. Such requests are recorded as page views by the server, but the content is not necessarily seen by the user.
The French company Mediamétrie Net Ratings (in partnership with Nielsen), came up with a solution that might pave the way to useable hybrid measurements. Nielsen Net Ratings, NNR, is known for its technology built around panelsof users (details here) who agree to have trackers running on their PCs. To improve mobile measurement, NNR recently teamed up with the three French cellular carriers and built a new massive log analysis system. The structure looks like this:
The (simplified) sequence follows:
1 / Cell carriers. They compile millions of logs, i.e. requests coming from their 3G/Edge networks to websites (no distinction between a request coming from an Android web browser or an iPhone application). Basically the log ticket says: P. Smith, number ###, sent this http://www… request on Dec 3rd at 22:34:55.
2/ The third party aggregator. Its main job is to anonymize data thanks to an encryption key it gets form the carriers. France’s privacy authority is very serious about data protection. Neither the cell carrier, nor the measurement company can have a full view on what people do on the internet.
3/ The audience analysis company. Here, Nielsen Net Rating France. In our example, along with cell numbers for its 10,000 others panelists, NNR sends the third party aggregator John Doe’s number.
4/ The aggregator encrypts the John Doe’s number in a “fdsg4…” sequence and sends it back to NNR.
5/ The carriers then send huge log files to NNR.
6/ NNR’s job is to retrieve its encrypted panelist from within the logs haystack. When it does spot the “fdsg4…” sequence, it can tell that John Doe, whom NNR knows everything about, has gone to xyz websites via its cell phone at such and such dates, times and, perhaps, locations.The rest of the log remains encrypted, therefore useless.
This system has only been in operation for a few months. And it is not perfect either. For instance, it tracks only requests going through cell phone networks; it ignores web requests sent through wifi — that account for 30% of total usage! The new system also ignores Blackberry users using RIM’s proprietary network. And the NNR algorithms need help from a huge database of URLs provided by the sites publishers. These URLs will be used to differentiate web browser requests from the ones generated by an app; we are talking of millions of URLs here, growing by the thousands every single day. A daunting task. In addition to this complication, large amounts of data still reside in the publishers servers. Hence a certification issue, as for all site centric measurements.
So much work ahead. The future lies in a deeper merger of site centric (log analysis) and user centric (panel) techniques. And also in a wider deployment of HTML 5 apps. We’ll explore the new web Lingua Franca’s potential in an upcoming Monday Note.
—frederic.filloux@mondaynote.com
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- Mobile phone –The value of data TweetComScore, the internet measurement company, announced it was acquiring M:Metrics for $44m. Not a deal comparable to last year acquisition of Telephia by Nielsen, for $440m but still a significant event. This acquisition confirms that tracking the expansion of mobile devices as well as the behavior of its users is as important as the data [...]...
12 Comments
Measuring is hard because of the lack of context. As you state in the old days with just a few browsers it was “easy” to detect what was going on. Now enter mobile – the first thing is that it’s “personal” so the potential value is much higher. However the input mechanisms normally available to a user (big keyboard and monitor) and very restricted on mobile. It’s more about viewing content than it is about interaction.
That’s why the future of mobile will be highly contextual and new approaches will be found to overcome the inherent physical limitations so that you can really know Who is there, What device there using is capable of also Where they are. You’ll be able to do all of this without violating their privacy. Essentially “permission based marketing”.
Cheers,
Peter
5o9 Inc.
Interesting. The described mechanism however fails to thoroughly capture native apps activities because it relies on a web analytics technology. Moreover, explicitly “tagging” a native app is a tedious task which in time lose relevance.
Full disclosure: My company — Ubikod — addresses fixed or mobile apps analytics with a completely new paradigm allowing to automatically — and implicitly — capture apps usage in real-time.
Makes some very interesting points. As I read it, I was reminded of the attempts in the 90s to ‘pre-empt’ the browser with push applications like Pointcast, and how that set off a mini-boom of media companies devising their own push applications, assisted by eager developers. The problem was, it was easy to tell how many downloads there were, but measuring whether anyone was using them afterwards was much murkier. Clearly mobile apps aren’t the same, and mobile isn’t a very different environment than the PC, but I think there are some lessons about not taking things at face value.
Correction – I meant mobile is a very different environment!
Congratulations on the NY Times quote (FWIW).
Good luck!
Should get more interesting as all these “background” apps run up against new mobile data limits.
UNRAVELING RELIGIOUS STRAIGHT JACKET
FOR WHO EVER IS CONCERNED REGARDING CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM
First of all, there are three denominations that do not accept the cross as symbolic of God’s influence. This is a mysterious misunderstanding amongst ignorant people and
is mostly true in the western hemisphere. The Apostle Paul never taught anything about the cross of crucifixion , other than a pre-calculated cold blooded murder. The following do not accept the cross, Judaism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. And too, God was not slaughtered for nothing more than exposing the vicious racket between local bankers and Priests in the Temple.Too, Stephens was stoned for warning the spiritually inclined just as God did. There is deep speculation as to the national credit card industry leading honest people in a some what devious manner. It goes like this–RELIGION,MONEY,LYING AND GREED. Nothing has changed in over two thousand years. If God lived today, He would be killed over filthy lucre, and not for preaching the truth. Examine religions and their teachings.
Naturally, all presidents are sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, while pressing down their left hands upon the Old Testament. A specific passage of one prophet, Isaiah {? } reads beneath the palm in taking an oath in swearing before God. Conclusion is that the New Testament is completely ignored.If this is true, then what God is being referred to, as there are numbers of {gods} in the Old Testament. There are many {gods} and numerous religions today.
Looking at this political procedure in rescuing the highest position of state, brings out attentiveness back to the late Presidential Eisenhower’s Era.During WW11, this sycophant was in Berlin Germany. Jehovah Witnesses had been interned in Germanic with holding camps during the conflict. It is well known that these individuals were given special treatment and free run in prison camps. General Eisenhower’s parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is not known that Ike was a witness or not, but remember, known prison camp witnesses have said very little of these confinement camps. And here is the riddle: Why do ignorant clergy men in Protestant and Catholic residency still attach them selves to the cross. The Pauline Gospel is locked in between modern day Babylonian religious pied piper’s totem pole, in the mystery of iniquity. The truth will make one free with the truth. First one must compel him self to study God’s doctrine honestly, rather than ravishing through books in the commercial industries.
THE TROLL BRIDGE FROM THE PAST STILL EXISTS
Considering various implications that Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s Chief Aid during WW11′s wartime years, is to openly admit that Harry was just
another politically orientated lapdog, on the New Deal’s pay roll, in a head long rush to ally America with Red Russia under Joseph Stalin. Definitely universal journalistic political whoredom, with its viper like ingredients, today, are to be considered as traitors to our Republican manner of national government. And at this very writing, scoundrels, modern day descendants of yesteryears most hectic fight against moles in Congress to sustain Bolshevism’s intrusion into every facet of population control, housed in Washington, D.C., carrying out their systematic scheme to reorganize America as a Third World nation, another dependent, a ( banana republic ), on the payroll of the Communist controlled International Monetary Loan system, as a tool to further global conquest of Oriental fundamentalism, as allied with Red Russia to day.
Obviously, reading these varied posts before me display the sad sack prickliness of individual greed, in milking a ( cow )
long ago put out to pasture, republicanism! And now which has been replaced with universal Bolshevism,under the cover of supposed to be incipient socialism, even Communism. We must come to the conclusion, as Winston Churchill so harbored, ( We must get to the lord root of the matter; fingering out,( Harry the hop ), as Roosevelt named his personal pro-commie watch dog, is like shooting at one mullet in a barrel. It would be wise to trash all of the posted information, into file 13, to be completely forgotton. Truth stings. To the above average journalistic whore it falls by the wayside. No man of public venture will **** truth. As Shakspeare surmised, ” Oh truth, where is thy sting”.
Momentarily, one must ponder ancient Egyptian civilization several thousand yesteryears into the mystery of Israel;Genesis gives a history of Jacob and his twelve sons. From this we learn that Jacob and his sons were known as Israel, then,
and as of presently. Jacob had a twin brother, Esau. Eventually both parted. To day Esau’s descendants through Ishmael, the Arabs, first cousins.
to the original Palistinians, are separated on the issue on Mohammad and the God of Judah.
to be more specific and to a conclusion, is to examine Israeli trek from ancient Egypt to the fifty United States. Israel has been perpetually divided since the crossing of the Red Sea. In essence we have two Israeli in existence proclaiming divine jurisdiction. In finality. America is a fifty state divided Israeli puzzle. Blaming this on a gentleman called Satan is to belabor the issue that all fifty states are of Israeli extraction, for there are numbers of nations with their own man made Gods. In conclusion, division is to control. America is now Commie controlled,( thought controlled;fifty states with the Israeli heart torn out and politically decimated through several wars as devised through mother
England. Herbert Hoover, late President of the United States of America, surmised in his 1947 autobiography: America is following the ways of ancient Esau. To better comprehend this statement is to read Art.6, Sec. 6 of the Constitution under treaties. The followers of Esau makes it clear,
America and Russia had been in bed when the founding fathers had taken a nap. Nikita Kruscheve made it clear to pro-Commie Eisenhower: We will take
America without firing a shot!
TRAMPS AND MUMMIES A SUPERB DISH
THANK GOODNESS SOMETHING APPEARS ON NATIONAL NEWS IN TAKING A LITERAL TWIST OVER THE LOVE-A-DOG MANIA THAT HAS BEEN LEGALLY RAPING SORDID INTELLECTS, IN EXPANDING COLLECTED PASSIONS OVER MUTTS LOCKED INTO THE ANIMAL KING0M. THANKS FOR A BREATHING SPELL FROM THE NEUROTICS THAT MUST LUST UPON BARKING DOGS, AND THE MASSIVE MASOCHISTIC PATHOLOGICALLY DRIVEN DISFUNCTIONAL PERSONALITIES.
The late Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the Supreme Court surmised: ” Tourists are nothing more nor less, than universal tramps “. Pharaoh Mubarak has decided to send all tramps back to their original watering holes and to leave the state’s mummies at rest. All in all, the world’s free lance roaming tourist are loosing their wits over some slave driver of whom lashed a government’s collective herds into the hands of professional task masters four thousands years past. Mubarak is no different.
So these road hustling tramps are fast learning that Moses welcomed Jacob and his twelve sons into Egypt four thousands years past as tourist, but was mystified to learn that Israel were far from world traveling tramps, this nation found a home. Robbed and plundered for four hundred years, a peculia people pulled up roots and fled. In contemporary Cairo bums and Tramps should take a hint and catch the first passage back to their earlier roosting grounds.
No doubt about it, we have a man-made triangle here, consisting
of tramps, State Department run-a-rounds and mummified stranglers, howling over a long departed humanoid. Quite an equation, this paraox. God classed his enemies as dogs. Mohammed some what a little less. The Pauline doctrine supported this option in both assesments, but least of all, a common cow was at one time a representation as a ( god ) of ancient Egypt. Yes, dogs in America, cows in Egypt, and tramps caught in the middle of a vast religious revolution, fronting for millions of unemployed, which are hoping to milk the system in throwing Price Mubarak to the universal wolves of international financial engineers, The Calif system has a dwelling for infidels of which plow along with such creatures, rulers, and to eventually wind up in New York’s Waldorf Astoria, as another dictator being protected by moles within the State Department. More than likely, Ben login has a suite awaiting him.
What is ugly is the International Monetary Fund and another designated, secretive monetary Select Vault, with its inherit nature of graft. Both of these collaborators are in the art of destabilization. Here, no ground in revolutionary Egypt. This is obvious for the State department usually is the installer–-
one dictator in power for thirty years. Even the United Nations remains mute, and this is the key!
Rounding the situation at home is that the global anti-social tramps depart from Egypt. Let this country alone. Most of all, keep Western spies out of the Middle East. Further, come out with truth. Israeli and Egyptian moguls are behind the scenes in corralling several natiions that prefer their own ( gods ). America has another ( god ),the canine crutch, for holding up dispassionate neurotics that are mummified with the canine movement, who now learns that Israel were far from world traveling tramps.Robbed and plundered for four hundred years this nation pulled up roots and fled. Tramps in Cairo should take a hint—get out!
No doubt bout it, we have a man-made triangle here consisting of dogs, tramps and Jacobian Israelites, howling over a mummified humanoid. Quite an equation, this paradox. God classed his enemies as dogs. The Pauline doctrine supported this option,but least of all, a common cow was at one time a representation as a ( god ) of ancient Egypt. Yes, dogs in America, cows in Egypt, and tramps caught in the middle of a vast religious revolution, fronting for millions of unemployed which are hoping to milk the system in throwing Prince Mubarak to the universal wolves of international financial engineers, and to eventually wind up in New York’s Waldorf Astoria as another dictator being protected by moles within the State Department.
More than likely, Ben Login has an awaiting suite on tap. Dog worship entagled with mummies. What a circus of emotional transsubstanuation. Absolutely, self-induced masochism! It would be wise for pro-reds in the State Department to learn more about
the nations of Ishmaelites and their struggle with ancient Isaac, regarding their first cousins in the Zionist state of Israel.
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Terrific blog!!!
I couldnt think you are more right.
At least some bloggers can write. Thank you for this read!!!
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[...] est encore plus complexe. Rien que sur le mobile, Nielsen en perd ses cheveux, comme l’explique Frédéric Filloux. De nombreux acteurs (Trendly, Omniture,…) cherchent aussi à créer de nouveaux indicateurs [...]
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