Just when you thought Web research couldn’t get any better, it fooled us all. Total Minutes is the newest metric Nielsen/NetRatings' is reporting as a way to rank Web site audiences.
The industry thought the new metric would replace page views, but according to Nielsen, it won’t. A variety of metrics will still be reported including total audience, time spent, frequency of use, and page views.
Although the Web is a powerful marketing medium, it is also a platform for various media models. While some sites deliver quick hits of information, others strive to keep users viewing as many of its videos as possible (Klaassen, 2007).
Sites that will be affected by this new metric are utility sites where users head for information on the fly, such as google.com. The sites that will benefit from it are social-media and streaming-video sites.
Reference
Klaassen, A. (2007). Measuring the web just got more complex. Advertising Age, 78. Retrieved September 5, 2007, from EBSCO.
