Web metrics help deliver a better experience

Back in December the Economist wrote about Web Metrics, highlighting the vast amount of data that can be tracked to measure a websites success. However, they bemoaned the lack of a singular and simple measure for Advertisers, like the audience measures used in the offline world today.

Could it be that those simple metrics in the offline world have been in part responsible for leaving a bad taste in the mouth of many potential customers?

Over-advertising, forcing messages, lack of respect for the customer’s time, many of these sentiments have been expressed frequently towards advertisements and advertisers (rightly or wrongly). For TV this has lead to use PVRs to avoid commercials, and DVD and Home Theater sales continue to do well while the groans during the first 20 min of advertisements at the movie theater are audible.

Maybe that is why Professor John Quelch, in Harvard Business’s look at the year ahead, predicts that 2008 will be the year that Advertising Companies Will Learn to Love Google. Though more time consuming, analyzing the numerous online metrics may result in online advertising that is more tailored and in-tune with potential customers, delivering a better experience for the audience and in-turn a better return on investment … wouldn’t that be nice.