Gearing up to unleash MSN
8 this fall, Microsoft is touting the draw of its
portal with new figures that could put it ahead of Yahoo! as the world’s most trafficked Internet destination.
Microsoft Thursday released the results of a PricewaterhouseCoopers
audit
that found MSN drew more than 300 million monthly unique users worldwide
between Feb. 1, 2002 and May 31, 2002.
The numbers stack up favorably against Yahoo!, which in July reported
238
million unique users for the month of June. And in May,
Nielsen//NetRatings
said Yahoo! had topped the list of most-trafficked
Internet destinations for the 24th consecutive month (based on unique
audience, total time spent and total page views).
“It’s significant for MSN to be able to report numbers that have been
validated by a highly respected firm such as PricewaterhouseCoopers,” said
Bob Visse, director of MSN at Microsoft. “Our growth in reach illustrates
how new and existing customers are becoming increasingly engaged with the
useful services and content MSN offers. This kind of momentum only adds to
the excitement leading up to the launch of MSN 8.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit consisted of a series of inspections
verifying compliance with the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s measurement
guidelines relating to the definition and method of
measuring unique users.
But the latest shot in the long-running
war between MSN and Yahoo! over Web traffic also continues to highlight
the fact that there’s little consensus among online publishing players on
how, exactly, to measure that traffic.
Despite the involvement of analysts at one of the world’s largest
accounting firms — whose methodology has received votes of confidence from
trade associations like the IAB, which employs PwC to study Internet-wide
ad
spending — MSN’s newest numbers differ wildly from those of other
traffic-trackers held in high regard by the industry.
For instance, comScore Media Metrix, while still placing the network of
MSN/Microsoft sites above Yahoo!, has reported completely different
numbers.
In July, it scored the MSN/Microsoft sites with 89.8 million unique monthly
visitors, while counting 83.4 million unique monthly visitors for Yahoo!.
comScore also ranked the AOL Time Warner network (both
proprietary and properties on the Web) higher than either, with 97.9
million
unique monthly visitors.
In large part, such differences come down to methodology: while PwC
audited Microsoft’s server-side process for counting traffic, NetRatings
and
comScore each use a sampling panel, similarly to the way that television
audiences are calculated.
Problems also arise because the industry also has not yet standardized
on
a single standard of auditing Web traffic, as numbers from the Audit Bureau
of Circulations, the Business of Performing Audits, and third-party Web
site
traffic analyzers like WebSideStory all are in wide use by major sites and
media buyers. Compared to these firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers has earned a
reputation as more of a process auditor than an actual compiler of site
traffic figures.
Additionally, the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s definitions for
measuring unique visitors — on which the PWC audit is based — have come
under fire
for
being too loose. The IAB is working with the Audit Bureau of Circulations
and other groups to address the charge.
Microsoft’s new figures come as it girds for war against AOL once again
with the upcoming release of MSN 8, which for the first time will be
available, for a fee, to consumers who use ISPs other than MSN Internet
Access. The service, which has been in beta since mid-July, will feature a
“dashboard” which users can customize to their tastes, and also bundles a
number of pay-services like bill-paying services, digital photo tools, and
access to the Encarta encyclopedia.
The MSN ISP boasts about 8 million subscribers, as opposed to the 34
million AOL holds.
