Quote:
| Originally Posted by outmywindow I understand your concerns and the “grey” areas that web sites are using in order to boost hit interpretations in order to attract more sponsor dollars. But is this not just a darker side of marketing as a whole, regardless if it’s web based or otherwise. |
Yes, sadly. It’s probably a poor analogy, but a segment in a news show titled the “Fleecing of America”… the potato chip bag comes to mind. 6 ounces of chips inside a 12 ounce inflated bag!
Quote:
| Originally Posted by outmywindow That being said, I’m sure that there are “independent” agencies that a potential advertiser relies upon that do their diligence and advice clients on these issues and hard facts. |
There should be, but in reality... there is not. There are two answers, but I'm not sure which one you were posing, so I'll answer both ways.
1. Up until recent years, the two primary ways to rate a website have been the data supplied by Alexa or Google’s Page Rank. Both are HUGELY flawed and most people are beginning to understand this now.
a. Alexa: is only capable of tracking the traffic of users with Amazon’s toolbar installed on their browsers. What is the number of people using this toolbar? The last figures I saw were just a few percentage points.
b. Google Page Rank: This tool is more accurate because of the large number of people that use Google, but the code behind this focuses on relevancy, not popularity. There are many sites that achieve PR 5-6 with Google, yet their traffic is FAR less than many PR 3-4 sites. More importantly, some of these PR 5-6 sites may have relevant info, but the quality and quantity of the info is lackluster in comparison to lower Page Rank sites.
2. If you're referring to traditional ad agencies for due diligence, there’s a major conflict of interest when it comes to the Internet. For example, an ad in one of the yachting magazines will cost around $4000 to $7000 per month/per page. In contrast, a banner on a website is less than 10% of those figures. If an ad agency makes the typical 15% to 20% commission… you can see why the Internet is not favored by agencies.
I can give you the name of an agency, well… no I can’t. Wait, as a matter of fact… I can and I will. Starmark was fired because a builder wanted banners made for YF, but the agency did not want to make them because there was not enough money in it for them each month. This is a classic example of an agency looking after their own interest and not looking out for the best interest of their clients.