Yahoo has conducted some rather self-serving research in conjunction with ComScore and Media Contacts that concludes the obvious: most consumers care intensely about only a small number of websites, and it’s these websites that make for the best places to advertise.
After analyzing over 12 million “passively observed site-user paired data points” from ComScore and surveying 800 users, the report came up with the following statistics:
- People visit on average 85 sites over the course of a month; they are “deeply engaged” with only about 1.5 of them
- People visit these 1.5 sites almost every day they go online
- People have been visiting these 1.5 sites for approximately 4.5 years
- People spend more than 1/3 of their time online at these 1.5 sites
- People are 13% more willing to pay attention to ads, and 200% as likely to find trustworthy information, at these 1.5 sites
The report calls these 1.5 sites “starting points” and asserts that they can be “portals or homepages or search engines”. So let’s see here…portals, homepages, search engines…at least 4.5 years…what the goodness could they could be referring to? Oh yea, Yahoo.
Since people are “13 percent more likely to pay attention to ads in ’starting points’ versus ‘non-starting points’” and “deep engagement with content can lead to deeper engagement in advertising,” the report implies that sites like Yahoo are “ideal location[s] to reach [people] with targeted messages”. The take home message: consumers love Yahoo so advertise to them there.
You gotta love these unbiased, scientific studies.
It’s so sad, because even if Yahoo is right (the ROI on their Search marketing campaigns is generally better, and yet we all start on Google), they’ve discouraged much of their advertiser base, by not making it as simple as heck – or even promoting their new features. (What new features?)
My heart bleeds for them, and wishes that they could step up to the plate, and become the Google competitor they should be… but I know that they don’t have their act together… sniffle sniffle
1.5 is 1.764% of 85 and not 7%
good catch. the report means to suggest that the average of 1.5 = less than 7 percent of total Web sites
ROI on Y! search marketing is indeed way higher then that on Google’s, but Adwords as a tool is way better…
I think they are right. I spend most of my time on certain sites like this one and a couple more design blogs and the front page of delicious.
And that’s the best image you guys have ever choose for a post. Ever.
Inerxia, I’m the same way. I’d say there are 5 or 6 sites that I visit on a regular basis with maybe two that I focus on at length. And I agree… the image is classic.
Deeply engaged with only 6 websites out of the 85 average monthly engagement. I take that to mean we are in a website bubble.
brings me to that special song from Tina Turner. Dedicated to all the bubble followers out there.
“We Dont Need Another Website”
Yahope sold its soul to Google with patent 360, now there selling there backside to them officially next month. simply disgraceful.
Why couldnt yahope they just make there ad program as easy to use as gaggles. No excuse for yahopes failures. they are no one to feel sorry for. they are old, tired and tore up. theyll still be around in 5 years, just like AOl, earthlink, altavista just no one will use them. Custom Vertical Location Engines will Dominate the Next Generation of Search.
AdvertisingLocator.com
Is that a picture of Mike the first time he got up from his computer and went to hooters?
It’s true. I’m deeply engaged with The Onion and StuffWhitePeopleLike.com. Only.
Wow great post… imagine 1.5 sites, thus all? That means the future of the web is bright…
Crazy {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/jmDkB7LUUp_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Crazy ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/n41yOCXr3S”}}}
I lover yahoo, obviously we know that their userbase is huge. Their problem is that they’re just not good at search. But its a great product, this is a great article. Lately there’s been so much negative news about Yahoo that we tend to forget that its still a great website from a content perspective.
This is yet another sad attempt by Yahoo to make themselves look great. They are failing as a company.
@geewhiz, they are smaller then Microsoft still, and can be nimble… they just need a good idea and massive follow-through
> You gotta love these unbiased, scientific studies
Just as much as you gotta love these unbiased, well thought out, well constructed Techcrunch posts.
I wonder if Google had done this same study, would the Techcrunch headline read “Google is the best buy for advertisers as the leading starting point of the web (Comscore verified)”?
TC is great for getting tipped off to new start-ups. The content itself often seems emotional. If you’re on TC’s good side they’ll praise whatever you do…else they’ll make it a point to communicate to the reader that they dislike the product. The content is far from unbiased.
It still serves a good purpose though. Just don’t drink the kool-aid
.
The best part of this was the Mark Twain quote.
The study is factual, unbiased and believable.
It would be interesting to find if users who visit more sites are good (i.e valuable) users or not.
Doesn’t this pre suppose that people aren’t specifically looking to buy something from the outset?
I find it hard to believe that, let’s say a person looking for camera reviews, is 13 percent more engaged by ads on a search engine than those within their destination review site. In fact the whole idea of a launch site having more engaging ads than a destination site, seems somewhat ridiculous.
Not that this report is anyway biased of course…..
Maybe you (and me) who do read camera reviews and the like are the minority? Haha…
I find it hard to believe too – I would think that the only ads that would possibly make sense on the “launch site” are those suited for impulsive buys (perhaps pizza delivery or something like that).
Not that I often click on ads anyway…
I think the research assumes that you have a need-state that requires satisfaction on the outset when you go online. Not necessarily buy something. But that’s one need-state.
But as you point out, read something, research something, or even perhaps talk with someone, increase your network blah blah…these are examples of need-states that trigger your going online.
And the Starting Points a person has revolves around those need-states and keeps satisfying those need states. This consistent satisfaction then encourages you to keep coming back to these Starting Points. And the cycle goes on… (Maslow Needs Hierarchy theory anyone?)
Mark – you need to further flesh out the story you heard from that conference.
Yahoo! works better but the Adwords works in many other cases…
btw the guy in the picture looks like Paul Oakenfold http://www.dono...ulOakenfold.jpg
Just because Yahoo presented this doesn’t mean it automatically favors them…
in the past few weeks (months), comScore has also been reporting the following:
-Google is still #1 in Search
-Yahoo is losing ground in “click-thrus” of display ads with MySpace taking the #1 spot
So, if this whole Starting Pointst theory revolves around Search and Ads, then recent trends in both areas are definitely not in Y!’s favor.
Both Google and MySpace are likely considered to be Starting Points by a good chunk of people (myself included). So essentially this research benefits these other Starting Points too, especially with trends favoring them.
Can you still then say Yahoo is being biased and self-serving when they just handed over a share of the pie to their fiercest competitors?
Yes i can still say they are being biased. The idea i was questioning was the whole 13% better ad results premise. I wasn’t being site specific i was being theory specific. Even if you did buy that idea, the stats themselves are surely in doubt. We all know just how accurate comscore and PPC clicks can be….
They may have sold their soul to the devil already, but we don’t need to.
“most consumers care intensely about only a small number of websites”
and none of these websites is yahoo…