Not Really Stealthmode

Not Really Stealthmode

Francine Hardaway  //  Self-described geek-to-human translator Francine Hardaway bought her first Apple product in the (very) early 80s, abandoned it for the supposedly portable Compaq a few years later, and returned to Macs soon after. By the late 80s, she was haranguing her daughters' journalism teachers for continuing to make the students literally cut and paste up the school newspaper copy when desktop publishing already existed, and had sacrificed their high school popularity for their greater good. She also tried to give them fax machines for Christmas, which they returned.Her passion for hardware died when the Internet "came along" and she realized the future was in software. Her first real experience with the power of online communities was in 1996, when insomnia after her husband's death led her to discover Widownet, followed a discreet year later by Match.com.In the early 90s, she made herself less popular with her friends by insisting that they all learn about email and the Internet, although they all assured her they would be dead before they needed to know it. She started a weekly email list that evolved over the years, and is now known by people who still don't read blogs as "Francine's blog." Francine's real blog — for those "in the know"–is at Stealthmode Blog. She can also be found on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Identi.ca, and every other social network someone tells her about.

And, oh by the way, she is a serial entrepreneur who counsels and invests in other startup entrepreneurs at Stealthmode Partners. She can tell you how long it REALLY takes to get beyond those early adopters.

Jan 24 / 6:10am

A Unique Visitor Weighs In $SCOR

"Jason Calacanis Punches Comscore In The Face. Comscore Punches Back. Fred Wilson Drags Us Into It. $SCOR" Woke up this morning to the breakup of Brangelina,  the new litter of Shiba Inu puppies, and this answer to a post of Jason's that I read yesterday and felt unequipped to weigh in on.  I don't put ads on my blog, I don't have do look at my numbers, and I am happier not to. Honestly, I'd probably quit writing if I looked. 

Yesterday afternoon, while this bitch-meme was escalating, I was at a rather more benign event in Phoenix where newbies were discussing how to develop passionate communities using social media. (Which probably means the stakes for this kind of argument are going up every day as all the small business owners discover this new means of marketing).

But reading all the posts by various parties to the debate, I have to say that what's missing now is the point of view of someone like myself: just a plain old visitor to these sites.

Here I am, a person who deletes cookies rather often, changes browsers, and works typically from three different computers and an iPhone.

Here's what Comscore's CMO said:

1) First of all, we measure Unique People rather than Unique Cookies which web analytics systems erroneously can unique visitors. I would challenge you to find any kind of server side measurement system that measures people, not machines or cookies. To show you how absurd server side numbers are, AOL Inc. had about 259 MM Unique cookies which gives it over 125% reach compared to a true reach of 54%. The inflation is driven by cookie deletion, multiple browsers, multiple machines for the same users, multiple devices etc… Large companies do not complain about their numbers because they know their server side numbers are flawed as obviously evident by the AOL metrics, not because ‘comScore fixes your number”. This dynamic is less obvious with smaller sites—they don’t realize how inflated their numbers are until their reach starts exceeding 100%.

2) Our Hybrid measurement is not mere pixel tracking as you assert. Our panel, which allows us to distinguish people from cookies, is a central part of the system used to correct for the inflation of cookie based server-side measurement.

Since that's what I do. She has to be right, using pure, simple common sense. I know I am only a single data point, but think of all the people who use IE6, keep getting those messages about security, and keep calling tech support people who always tell you to delete your cookies every time something goes wrong.

Cookies have to be a primitive way to measure visitors. At best, the measure computers, not people.  At worst, they measure the same person re-setting things all the time.

About the rest, I have nothing to say, since I "know" and respect everyone involved. I admire all of them for their distinctive energy, and I feel the same way I used to feel when my kids got in a fight: don't put me in the middle, because I love you all.




   
Click here to download:
A_Unique_Visitor_Weighs_In_SCO.zip (26 KB)

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