Nielsen to Rank Sites by View Time, Not Hits

Web minutes seen as more accurate measure of use
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 11, 2007 5:16 AM CDT
Nielsen to Rank Sites by View Time, Not Hits
MySpace   (KRT Photos)

Nielsen will move to ranking web sites based on how long sites are viewed rather than how many hits a page receives. The shift will boost ratings for AOL and Yahoo, where millions have email accounts, over Google and MySpace. Advertisers will likely still pay rates based on hits, but the change could spur a restructuring of sites, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Many sites currently break up content over several pages to increase hits, which have now become less important. Recent technological changes have led industry experts to conclude that view time is a more accurate measure of use. With innovations such a streaming video, for example, users can watch an entire baseball game on a single hit. (More internet stories.)

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