Gartner Group Inc. on Tuesday announced it has struck a strategic
alliance to provide its clients with online audience measurement services
from Nielsen/NetRatings, positioning the Stamford, Conn.-based research firm
in direct competition with industry leader Jupiter Media Metrix.
Gartner officials explained the alliance was fueled by their clients’
needs of greater uniformity in measuring site traffic and audience
demographic information for their analyses.
“There is a need for standardization,” said Carol Wallace, Gartner
spokeswoman. “We do believe [Nielsen/NetRatings] is emerging as the common
currency in Net reporting.”
Wallace admitted that Gartner considered all participants in the audience
measurement category, including Media Metrix and PC Data of Reston, Va. But
ties with Media Metrix would have been difficult given their relations with
Gartner’s competitor, Jupiter Communications. Wallace said the company chose
Nielsen/NetRatings after studying the different methodologies and global
reach. Gartner never considered the option of internalizing the data
collection.
“We made a very conscious decision that we wanted to purchase this data
from someone else,” Wallace said.
Based on the agreement, Gartner’s analysts will leverage
Nielsen/NetRatings’ data from an existing base of 22 countries to better
inform clients of market trends and analysis to help them make informed
business decisions. Nielsen/NetRatings data delivers information on Web site
traffic, session length, page views, user demographics, and home and office
user trends.
“Nielsen/NetRatings’ Internet data combined with Gartner analysis will
deliver global, timely research to clients who are using the Internet to
drive business success,” said Michael D. Fleisher, chief executive officer
of Gartner. “This
type of measurement data is critical for high-quality market research. This
alliance is the most efficient way to leverage the strengths of both
companies and enables Gartner analysts to continue to focus on strategic
analysis of the data.”
“Gartner’s reach spans the entire information technology industry, and
will now include the addition of Internet user information to help companies
strategically plan their marketing programs,” said Dave Toth, president and
CEO of NetRatings.
Jupiter officials could not be reached for comment.
