Quantcastic!

I've been thinking about this AdWeek story, which presents Quantcast as an alternative to panel measurement providers such as Nielsen and Comscore. It's not.

First, as Susan Hickey* of Nielsen Interactive observes, Quantcast's methodology "really isn't clear." I expect that will change over time, but for now I think it's true that Quantcast's model is a little bit of a kludge. Quantcast is currently dependent on obviously flawed Alexa data for the universe of sites that have not added its tracker. However, Quantcast's ability to "correct" flawed data on a site-by-site basis is profound and important. With enough sites, Quantcast could construct a model to improve the accuracy of a large portion of Alexa (or Comscore or Nielsen) rankings. In this scenario, think of Quantcast data as a corrective lens for skewed panel data.

Another complaint, from David Smith of Mediasmith, is less valid. Smith says that Quantcast "need[s] more sites in the top 100." Actually, it doesn't. Top 100 data from other sources, including Alexa, is already very strong. Quantcast's strength is in providing accurate measurement for sites below (especially far below) the top 100. Panel data, regardless of whether it's Nielsen or Alexa, tends to drop off in accuracy and utility with smaller sites. Quantcast doesn't need to go up against the panels where they're strongest in order to deliver value.

By far the most important information from panels is behavioral data: panels are able to audit users' total online behavior. Quantcast, conversely, audits web sites' total audience. Quantcast is not able to deliver user behavioral data of equal quality; absent near-total adoption by websites (and massive investment in number-crunching infrastructure), it never will. Each approach is a useful but incomplete perspective of usage. Because both perspectives are valuable and necessary, I believe Quantcast will enhance but not replace the existing panel measurement system.

* Full disclosure: Susan Hickey is a former co-worker of mine from Jupiter Media Metrix.