The most reliable form of web traffic measurement is reported ad impressions from a reputable 3rd party like DoubleClick. They do a fine job of eliminating bots and spiders (unlike log files) and only meaure an impression once an ad is served.
Eliminate pop-ups and unders (which our sites do not take) and one can get a true measurement of traffic. If you have on average 2 ads per page on your site and monthly ad impressions served is 100,000, then you have 50,000 monthly page views. Sure you are still in effect undercounting when you factor in ad blocking, etc....but what do investors and VCs really care about, the ability to generate revenue. Ad impressions are the true way to factor that in and provide a fair measurement of traffic.
ComScore and Neilsen are antiquated measurements of traffic, how many Slashdot users out there would download ComScore software to be a part of a web "panel"??? I don't think many of us would do that.
I think it is great that he will be focusing on his philanthropic efforts. The Foundation has done a great deal for global health in the short time it has been in existence. A person who has devoted the second half of his life to make the world better for all us is not an evil borg, but someone who should be honored and respected. Maybe a lot of you can not separate the man from the company, but I can and I believe that history will be kind to Mr. Gates and remember him for his real accomplishments of fighting global poverty, malaria and the AIDS epidemic.
Will either service be around much longer? Honestly, since I got TIVO I hardly ever use NetFlix anymore. Movies On Demand are coming down in price and you can save them to your TIVO hard drive.
The precedent to look to in this situation is Miramax. A decade or so after their deal with Disney the Weinstein brothers are out and the shell that used to be Miramax remains. Miramax films were good quality films when they had autonomy and control. At the end of their tenuous relationship the infighting between the 2 orgs was about development and marketing budgets. The same can happen to Pixar if they are not careful.
Slashdot Mirror
The most reliable form of web traffic measurement is reported ad impressions from a reputable 3rd party like DoubleClick. They do a fine job of eliminating bots and spiders (unlike log files) and only meaure an impression once an ad is served. Eliminate pop-ups and unders (which our sites do not take) and one can get a true measurement of traffic. If you have on average 2 ads per page on your site and monthly ad impressions served is 100,000, then you have 50,000 monthly page views. Sure you are still in effect undercounting when you factor in ad blocking, etc....but what do investors and VCs really care about, the ability to generate revenue. Ad impressions are the true way to factor that in and provide a fair measurement of traffic. ComScore and Neilsen are antiquated measurements of traffic, how many Slashdot users out there would download ComScore software to be a part of a web "panel"??? I don't think many of us would do that.
I think it is great that he will be focusing on his philanthropic efforts. The Foundation has done a great deal for global health in the short time it has been in existence. A person who has devoted the second half of his life to make the world better for all us is not an evil borg, but someone who should be honored and respected. Maybe a lot of you can not separate the man from the company, but I can and I believe that history will be kind to Mr. Gates and remember him for his real accomplishments of fighting global poverty, malaria and the AIDS epidemic.
Will either service be around much longer? Honestly, since I got TIVO I hardly ever use NetFlix anymore. Movies On Demand are coming down in price and you can save them to your TIVO hard drive.
The precedent to look to in this situation is Miramax. A decade or so after their deal with Disney the Weinstein brothers are out and the shell that used to be Miramax remains. Miramax films were good quality films when they had autonomy and control. At the end of their tenuous relationship the infighting between the 2 orgs was about development and marketing budgets. The same can happen to Pixar if they are not careful.