The Online News Audience

The Online News Audience Michael PondMedia Analyst

Who IS the Audience?

• How do you go about knowing your audience?

• What you need to know and why about who they are and how they “consume” online news?

• How do you serve and grow your audience?

How do you go about knowing your audience?

• Tools• Techniques• Data Analysis• Other Strategies

Techniques

• Fielding– Panel

• Random Digit Dial (RDD)• Online

– Server– Random

• Collection– Meter– Survey

Tools

• Volumetric Measures• Market Research• Ad Planning• Qualitative Measures• Site Centric (Web) Analytics

Volumetric Measures

• Data Providers– Nielsen//NetRatings– Hitwise

• Complementary Service• Search!!• Data is purchased from ISPs

– ComScore• Direct competitor• Market Research• Most media clients use it for panel size and local

reporting

Why it is used…

• Ad Sales– The biggest number!!!

• Competitive Benchmarking– Less important

• Strategic Research– Least important

Market Research

• Custom– Forrester, etc

• Strategic– Everything is a tool, they just sit on top of it– Answers “The Big Questions”– Highest $$ per project

• Survey Research– Harris, Greenfield, FGI, SSI, Etc

• Models– DIY (client builds it then turns it over)– Consultative (spec, serve, analyze)

Ad Planning Tools• Syndicated Studies

– MRI (magazine)– @Plan (internet)– Scarborough (newspapers)

• Ad Tracking– AdRelevence (internet)

• Advertising Effectiveness– Ad Servers– View through/click through– Dynamic Logic Style– Test and control methodology– Normative Database

Qualitative Tools

• Focus Groups– Usability testing etc

• In person• Remote - Vivadence

Site Centric Analytics

• Server Side Measurement– “Tagging” or “Cookies”– Measurement

• Audience: # of browsers by way of cookie• Pages: # of requests

– Providers• Omniture• SiteCensus (N//NR)

Research Methods

• Regression– Why Things Happen

• Relationship between multiple independent variables and a dependent variable

• Segmentation– Who People Are

• Understanding the differences in the audience leads to better user experience

What you need to know and why, about who they are and how they “consume” online news?

• Who they are…• What they do…• How’s it changing…

Online Audience MeasurementTop-line Audience Metrics

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, August 2007

Current Events & Global NewsIndex Against Total Online Population

103

114

97

8489

70

120109 112

137

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Men Women 18-34 25-54 55+

Unique AudiencePage Views

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, Combo, August 2007


97

116

103

8794

74

114 112117

175

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Men Women 18-34 25-54 55+


Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, Home, August 2007


99106

10190

96

72

101 99 98

111

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Men Women 18-34 25-54 55+


Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, Work, August 2007

Current Events & Global NewsUnique Audience (000) Trend

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

Sep-0

5

Oct-05

Nov-05

Dec-05

Jan-0

6

Feb-0

6

Mar-06

Apr-06

May-06

Jun-0

6Ju

l-06

Aug-0

6

Sep-0

6

Oct-06

Nov-06

Dec-06

Jan-0

7

Feb-0

7

Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07

Jun-0

7Ju

l-07

Aug-0

7

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service

+13% from Sep05+7% from Aug06

Current Events & Global NewsPage Views (000) Trend

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

9,000,000

10,000,000

Sep-0

5

Oct-05

Nov-05

Dec-05

Jan-0

6

Feb-0

6

Mar-06

Apr-06

May-06

Jun-0

6Ju

l-06

Aug-0

6

Sep-0

6

Oct-

06

Nov

-06

Dec

-06

Jan-07

Feb

-07

Mar-0

7

Apr-0

7

May-0

7

Jun-07

Jul-0

7

Aug-0

7


+3% from Aug06

Current Events & Global NewsTime-per-person Trend

0:00:00

0:14:24

0:28:48

0:43:12

0:57:36

1:12:00

1:26:24

1:40:48

1:55:12

Sep-0

5

Oct-05

Nov-05

Dec-05

Jan-0

6

Feb-0

6

Mar-06

Apr-06

May-06

Jun-0

6Ju

l-06

Aug-0

6

Sep-0

6

Oct-

06

Nov

-06

Dec

-06

Jan-07

Feb

-07

Mar-0

7

Apr-0

7

May-0

7

Jun-07

Jul-0

7

Aug-0

7


Shift in EngagementLoyalty Matrix August 06

10

20

30

40

50

60

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Visits

Min

utes

CNN Digital NetworkYahoo! NewsMSNC Digital NetworkAOL NewsGoogle News

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service. Work, August 2006

Shift in EngagementLoyalty Matrix August 07

10

20

30

40

50

60

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Visits

Min

utes

CNN Digital NetworkYahoo! NewsMSNC Digital NetworkAOL NewsGoogle News


Local Story ImpactAugust 07

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

Visits

Min

utes

NYTimes.comSFGate.com/ChronicleChicago TribuneLA TimesStar Tribune

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service. Home, August 2007

Local Story ImpactAugust 07

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

Visits

Min

utes

NYTimes.comSFGate.com/ChronicleChicago TribuneLA TimesStar Tribune


Targeted/Lifestyle Behavior

• Online News Audience Profile – 59.5% Visited a General News Site– 34.5% Read Any News Online –Yesterday– 18.7% Primarily Read Newspaper Online– 16.3% No Newspaper Read Yesterday

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Service, Fall 2007

Online News ConsumersActivities Yesterday

129

217

134

209

116

140 140

185

126

182

0

50

100

150

200

250

Dow nloaded Podcast Watched StreamingVideo

Internet Access viaPhone

Any RSS last 30 days Visit Blog Other thanOw n

Any General News SiteAny News Yesterday


Online News ConsumersFrequently Provide Advice On…

133143

117

131121

144

112

126118119

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Politics /CurrentEvents

OnlineShopping

InternetContent &Services

FinancialInformation

Travel

Any General News SiteAny News -Yesterday


Growth in Video Content

Wall St. Journal – 10/07/06

Emergence of “My.Internet” or “Web2.0”

• “My.Internet” are websites that put the control of the content, either user generated or not, in the hands of the consumers. These sites allow consumers to define their own online experience through technology such as RSS or content genres such as blogs and social networking.

http://www.flickr.com/

http://youtube.com/

http://www.frappr.com/



http://www.topix.net/

So Who Are These People?• Clicked on an online advertisement• Downloaded a full length video, such as a TV show or

movie• Downloaded a podcast• Downloaded a video clip• Listened to streaming audio• Made a podcast• Participated in an online community, such as

MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn or Facebook• Posted a blog• Read a blog• Read an RSS feed• Watched streaming video

How Are They Consuming Media Online?

248

355

216200

471

402

199

137

97

160 166

50 64

171

15 13 12 13 021 10

Downloaded a fulllength video

Downloaded apodcast

Downloaded avideo clip

Listened tostreaming audio

Made a podcast Read an RSS feed Watchedstreaming video

My.InternetOld, New MediaI'll Do Nothing And Like It

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Consumer Survey (6/06) n = 1,300

Average

Metric: Index against overall respondent average

For The Most Part My.Internet Likes The Same Sites As Everyone Else

0%

0%0%

1%1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

5%

5%

6%

16%

16%

19%

24%

Excite

NYTimes

Other ISP

BBC News

Comcast

Drudge

WebMD

ABC News

Ask.com

CBS News

USA Today

WPNI

ESPN

AOL News

Google News

Fox News

CNN

Yahoo!

Other News

MSNBC

1%

2%

1%

0%

3%

1%

1%

4%

1%

1%

1%

0%

0%

3%

2%

6%

13%

14%

18%

30%

Excite

NYTimes

Other ISP

BBC News

Comcast

Drudge

WebMD

ABC News

Ask.com

CBS News

USA Today

WPNI

ESPN

AOL News

Google News

Fox News

CNN

Yahoo!

Other News

MSNBC

0%

1%1%

1%

2%

0%

1%

2%

1%

4%

2%

0%

0%

4%

3%

10%

10%

15%

22%

21%

Excite

NYTimes

Other ISP

BBC News

Comcast

Drudge

WebMD

ABC News

Ask.com

CBS News

USA Today

WPNI

ESPN

AOL News

Google News

Fox News

CNN

Yahoo!

Other News

MSNBC

My.Internet Old, New Media I'll Do Nothing And Like It

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Consumer Survey (6/06) n = 1,300

Q: What is your favorite news and information website? (Open ended)

Loyalty, However, Is Not Their Strong Suit

17.3

19.1

21.8

22.0

24.5

25.4

30.0

31.2

63.9

General News/Information Category

MySpace

Frappr!

Facebook

Topix.net

YouTube

Digg.com

Flickr

Del.icio.us

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Netview Service. Work, April 2006

Metric: Number of News and information sites visited by visitor to “Brand A”

Key Finding: Be Not Afraid• There is a new class of Internet users, but it turns out

that they are pretty much the same as the old ones.

• They…– Are younger and more internet media centric– Are more engaged– Less loyal than average– Seem to like the same sites as everyone else

• For Publishers: The winners will let them be in control of both content and their advertising experience.

The Effects Of RSS On News Sites

• What The Heck Is RSS Doing To My Site?

“I used RSS as a novelty at first, now find the data aggregation it provides time saving. I have a couple of sites I trust, but I’ve been expanding.”

RSS Users Aggressively Use Current Events and Global News Information

8

14

22

21

36

178

7

10

14

19

22

58

Multi-category News & Information

Research Tools

Weather

Directories/Local Guides

Special Interest News

Current Events & Global News

RSSControl

Metric: Minutes per month

RSS Users Tend To Visit 3 Times As Many News Sites As Non-Users

10.6

3.4

RSS Control

Metric: Average number of Current Events and Global News sites visited in a month

While They Still Read The Top Media Sites, RSS Users Expand Outside Of The Top 20

32

11

16

4

51%

36%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

RSS Control0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%Top 20 News/Information Sites

All Other News/Information Sites

"Other" as a percentage of "Top 20"

Metric: Visits per person per month

Most RSS Users Do Not Even Know They Are Using RSS

17%

83%

Aware RSS UserUnaware RSS User

Metric: Percent of behavioral RSS users who answer that they use RSS

RSS Awareness is Reflected in Length Of Online Tenure and Gender

78% Male48% Online before ’9446% College Grad+25% $100k +17% Uses Gecko Engine Web Browsers (FireFox, Netscape etc)17% 18 to 34 Years Old



Uses RSS

Aw

are

Of R

SS U

se

Yes

Yes

No

No

Unaware Users Frequently View RSS As Going to The Source Itself

4%

4%

6%

28%

17%

18%

24%

4%

5%

9%

0%

21%

30%

32%

3%

6%

9%

0%

16%

31%

35%The source itself

A site that brings together a number of news sources

A site that allows me to personalize the news sources I

seeA RSS reader either built into your

browser or as an application

A search engine

Email newsletters

Other

Aware RSS UserUnaware RSS User Not A RSS User

Q: When you read news online, which of the following sources do you use to read a news story most often? (please select one)

Even Those Who Are Unaware of Use Are Influencers

11%

28%

33%

38%

39%

34%

38%

59%

9%

17%

19%

24%

21%

28%

29%

41%

7%

14%

20%

16%

18%

20%

22%

34%

Aware RSS UserUnaware RSS User Not A RSS User

I am more comfortable with technology than most of the people I know

I frequently send links to new interesting websites to friends and family

I frequently send links to news stories to friends and family

I typically buy new technology before friends and family

I typically sign up for or download new Internet services before friends and family

I frequently send links to interesting new products to friends and family

People come to me to find out about new websites

I frequently access the Internet from devices other than a laptop or desktop computer

Q: To what degree do each of the following statements apply to you? Please rate each on a scale from 1 to 10 [Top 3 Box]

The Role Of Greater Awareness In The RSS User Experience

No Awareness Moderate Awareness Full Understanding

Leve

ls o

f Eng

agem

ent

Size Of Population

My Yahoo! Use

RSS Reader Use

Content Added Aggressively

Content Saturation

Reached

RSS Efficiency Awareness

Develops

Content Equilibrium

Reached

Take Aways…

• Relationship– RSS undeniably changes the ways consumers interact

with a media property. While some sites have seen great benefits from RSS functionality, others are clearly being hurt. Perhaps the greatest beneficiaries of RSS may be sites outside of the Top 20 properties, which should continue to see increased usage from RSS traffic.

• The Future– Current evidence suggests that near-term effects may not

last. As consumers become more comfortable with RSS they seem to be using it to streamline their online experience, rather than broadening it.

Questions?Michael Pond, Media [email protected]

Documents

The Online News Audience