Data Collection Up 400% Since 2011

A recent report from consumer data services firm Krux showed that year-over-year data collection volume was up by 400 percent from an average of 10 collections per page to 50. Krux found that 54 percent of that activity was not controlled by publishers, up from 31 percent in 2011.

The number of individual data collectors also nearly doubled, with more than 300 parties in the 2012 Krux Cross-Industry Study, compared to 167 in 2011. As data collection numbers continue to grow so does the involvement of third-party data collectors.

The portion of third-party data collectors serving as ‘ushers’ bringing other data collectors to a web page is up from 55 percent in 2011 to 78 percent in 2012. Of all the collection observed, 42 percent was from companies that may be using the data to power competitive media or data businesses, said Krux.

The growth in data collection reflects the shift in the display advertising market to audience-based buying. Media buyers and resellers are combining premium data with low cost exchange-based media, which bypasses direct ad sales channels.

Image provided by Krux.