- Methodology

<div align="justify">At the core of the currency for online coverage as defined by the AGOF's internet facts lies the definition of the coverage of an advertising medium. This definition is a valid parameter within the realms of media and advertising research. "Coverage” refers to the proportion (percentage rate) of the population or any other target group, e.g. persons or households, which is or was in contact with a particular advertising medium at a given point in time or period of time. The internet facts define coverage in terms of the so-called unique user, which is an individual user. In order to become established in the market as a currency, the internet facts have to meet a variety of requirements. From a media planner's viewpoint, this includes the provision of coverage data and structural data of all relevant websites, as well as their booking units. Furthermore, the currency has to be countable with media planning tools, so the data can usefully support the development of a media plan. From a methodological perspective, it is mandatory to fulfill the quality factors of empirical social research, such as validity, reliability and representativeness of the results. Since the Internet is an electronic medium, another important methodological feature should be an adequate technical measuring to allow for fragmented consumption. For these reasons, the methodological foundation of the internet facts consist of a three-pillar-model. At the heart of the model lies the electronic measurement of consumption (grass-roots survey), which is supplemented by both an onsite survey and population-representative telephone interviews. Chart: Requirements for the currency <papaya:media src="e50759bd1fb126bc194d0a84c2a7c2d7.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.e50759bd1fb126bc194d0a84c2a7c2d7.gif" /> The AGOF's three basic modules have the following functions: The purely technical measurement, which almost equals a complete count of all contacts with German online advertisements, collects learned data such as visits and page impressions. It does this on the basis of the individual computer of which the online consumption is to be measured. These computers are called unique clients. While the population for the technical measurement are the unique clients, the onsite survey has the function of generating information about the person behind the computer. In this case, the population consists of Internet users of 14 years and older. Apart from sociodemographic factors for describing the person, the onsite survey does also acquire information on the utilization of the computer. As a general rule, a currency is based on the statistical population "German population 14 years and up”. By the means of representative telephone interviews, a link is established between the target group "Internet users” and the statistical population: In the course of the interviews, basic data on Internet consumption are being collected, thereby depicting the relation between Internet users and the total population. It is only the combination of all three pillars that enables us to collect coverage data and structural data of online advertising media. For these ends, the AGOF's three pillars are attached to each other by way of an innovative procedure. Chart: : The "three-pillar-model" <papaya:media src="599765c9285414c534ddd7f9b05b4365.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.599765c9285414c534ddd7f9b05b4365.gif" /> The most important innovation with respect to the internet facts is the transformation of unique clients into unique users, i.e. the persons behind the computer. Unique clients cannot be applied to persons one-to-one: The single users (i.e. the computer is used by a person who does not use another computer for access to the Internet - the unique client is identical with the unique user) do in fact constitute the largest group among Internet users. However, there are also computers that are used by several different persons, the so-called multi-users. In addition to that, there are persons who only partially use a given computer for online consumption, since they use different computers (e.g. one at home and one at work) when using the Internet, and these are called multi-clients. Thus for transforming unique clients into unique users, as a first step one needs to collect the multi-user, multi-client and single user profiles from among the data of the first pillar. Chart: Identification and differentiation of computer and browser profiles <papaya:media src="f8a62988c61db39248fe1b1f270450f6.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.f8a62988c61db39248fe1b1f270450f6.gif" /> In a second step, the technical measurement (SZM traffic statistics) have to be enriched with the additional data of the onsite surveys. For this purpose, a combined dynamic profiling and modeling procedure is deployed, by which the so-called dynamic microclusters are built: On the basis of the users with existing data from both the technical measurement and the onsite survey, ideal-typical user profiles are developed (profiling). Chart: Enrichment of profiles <papaya:media src="cf58388e3ccf7f71411922ec3a5bf59d.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.cf58388e3ccf7f71411922ec3a5bf59d.gif" /> Based on the principle of identity and correspondence, the sociodemographic data of each ideal-typical user are then projected (or rather, forecasted) onto those users of which, as a result of the technical measurements, only the patterns of their actual Internet consumption exist and which corresponds with the ideal-typical Internet user. By this procedure, missing sociodemographic data are completed while exhaustive user profiles are generated along the way (modeling). The transformation of unique clients into unique users is thus completed. Chart: Enrichment of profiles <papaya:media src="732c4da4c0e5ee0bc4791b5ff779d493.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.732c4da4c0e5ee0bc4791b5ff779d493.gif" /> In order to be able to apply the gained information to the German Internet users 14 years and up or to the universe respectively, a large number of representative telephone interviews is then conducted. The countable data set of the internet facts results from fusing the technical data set with the representative interviews and the subsequent processing for their utilization in the context of planning tools. The dynamics of this approach lies in the fact that the modeling can be quickly and easily adapted to modified user profiles, which in turn may result from the fact that new websites have been added, that the technical environment has changed or that the subpopulation of Internet users has been subject to changes etc. Chart: Interplay of the three pillars <papaya:media src="10527941ebf5279d46bbdcf2d590ea47.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.10527941ebf5279d46bbdcf2d590ea47.gif" /> For the very first time in the history of online media and online advertising research, the highly innovative multi-method approach of the internet facts makes it possible to show personal data in relation to booking units. Also, due to the combination of technical data and interview data and the ability to flexibly adapt to dynamic changes within the online market, the approach succeeds in fulfilling all the requirements of a market standard, something that has been missing previously. Chart: Performance of the survey <papaya:media src="6b839c589e0680c3cffda0751bafbfe9.gif" target="_blank" width="200" height="150" align="left" resize="max" href="index.thumb.6b839c589e0680c3cffda0751bafbfe9.gif" /> With the internet facts 2005-II in the fall of 2005, the AGOF first published media data in the form of coverage data and structural data, as well as market data of websites and booking units. The combination of both offers a market and media survey which portrays the online advertising market with unprecedented accuracy. Also, with the publication of the internet facts 2005-II the AGOF was the first organization to supply the market with a data set to be used for online media planning. </div>

Methodology

The AGOF’s Coverage Currency