Nielsen//Netratings Launches Internet Advertising Index

Measurement company Nielsen//NetRatings launched a new Internet Advertising Index for tracking changes in Internet advertising activity over time.

The index shows that Internet advertising to home users increased 3.9 percent in June compared to May, the company said.

The index was set up to compare changes each month in the number of Internet advertisements successfully loaded on Web pages visited by Nielsen//NetRatings home panelists. As a result of the changes between May and June, the Internet Advertising Index stands at 103.9 for June 1999.

“This new index is the kind of reliable tool the industry needs to track the development of the Internet as an advertising and communications medium,” said Jim Spaeth, president and CEO of the Advertising Research Foundation, a nonprofit professional organization focused on improving the practice of advertising, marketing and media research.

Rich LeFurgy, chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau, called the index “a shorthand method for helping media professionals gauge the growth of Internet advertising.”

“We intend to continue to bring tools such as the Index to the industry to help advertisers, agencies, sites and providers understand Internet trends and make more informed business decisions about the Internet,” said Manish Bhatia, vice president of interactive services for Nielsen Media Research. The index is based on data from approximately 15,000 panelists as they surf the Web.

Nielsen//NetRatings also released figures on the top advertisers for June, based on impressions:

Three advertisers — TRUSTe, 911Gifts, and Discover Brokerage — joined the ranks of the top 10 advertisers in June. The companies ranked fourth, seventh and tenth, respectively. The previous month, these companies ranked 25th, 173rd, and 13th, respectively. Microsoft and Amazon.com were the top two advertisers on the Web in both May and June.

Table 1: Nielsen//NetRatings: Top Advertisers — June 1999

Advertiser Share of Impressions (percent of total)

1. Microsoft — 9.0
2. Amazon.com — 3.8
3. CDNOW — 2.3
4. TRUSTe — 2.1
5. LinkExchange — 2.0
6. America OnLine — 1.9
7. 911Gifts — 1.9
8. Ad Council — 1.8
9. First USA — 1.8
10. Discover Brokerage — 1.5Total Top Ten — 28.1

Nielsen//NetRatings tracks banner and button advertisements successfully loaded on panelists’ computers. Only ads delivered to 40 people or more are counted in the totals.