New audience responsesystem from Ortek
Ortek Data Systems, a Beaverton, Ore., maker of audience response measurement systems, has introduced its new wireless Express 700 model. The portable electronic polling system can survey a gathering of as many as 200 respondents. In an Express meeting, attendees are provided with handheld keypads called Responders. Each member of the group can privately answer the moderator’s questions by pressing a button on their own Responder. After each question, group response data is electronically collected and a summary of the answers is displayed as a graph. For testing of audio/visual creations and presentations, a companion model, Express 700C, can monitor moment-to-moment responses for several hours. In addition to the keypad, the 700C Responder also has a dial, which is the preferred mechanism for registering continuous responses to TV commercials, movies, music, and speeches.
E-com research service, Internet/TV convergence lab from NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc., New York-based provider of the Nielsen//NetRatings Internet audience measurement services, and Rochester, N.Y., research firm Harris Interactive Inc. have introduced an e-commerce research service focused on online consumer spending, behavior and attitudes. The new service, eCommercePulse, integrates ecommerce survey data collected from Harris Interactive’s survey panel with data and insights from the Nielsen//NetRatings audience measurement panel.
ECommercePulse is a single-source e-commerce intelligence service for merchants, investors and suppliers. Covering more than 300 e-commerce sites across 14 vertical markets, eCommercePulse provides integrated monthly reports on e-commerce behavior, trends and spending (both online spending and offline spending that result from online shopping). Armed with this consumer shopping information, which includes marketlevel and site-level traffic, purchaser and revenue share and customer satisfaction metrics, companies will be able to make informed business decisions. In addition, eCommercePulse provides companies with a platform of prescreened Harris Poll Online consumers that Can be tapped for additional customized research. The markets covered by eCommercePulse include books, music, video, clothing and apparel, computer hardware and peripherals, computer software, consumer electronics, fitness and sports equipment, health and beauty, travel services, auctions, flowers, gifts and cards, home and garden, and toys.
Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings Inc. have also launched the Convergence Lab, an ongoing consumer research laboratory designed to electronically measure television viewing and Intemet activity as they occur in the same sample households. The first data from the panel are to be reported to customers this month. To date, more than 190 households, representing approximately 500 persons with access to the Intemet, have been recruited into the research sample, and Nielsen Media Research expected to reach 200 sample homes by February, and 250 households later this year.
Television sets in the research lab are equipped with Nielsen People Meters, for nationwide audience measurement by Nielsen Media Research. Internet activity - including usage, online buying, and exposure to banner advertising - is measured using software from the Nielsen//NetRatings service, the same methodology used to track Internet activity in household and workplace panels throughout the U.S.
Some examples of the type of data that Nielsen Media Research will be reporting from the Convergence Lab include:
- correlation, if any, between overall TV viewing and Internet surfing;
- correlation, if any, between types of programs watched on TV and content surfed on the Internet;
- correlation, if any, between specific programming outlets or programs viewed and the likelihood of these viewers visiting related websites;
- instances of simultaneous usage of the TV and the Internet.
The information will be used to determine how TV programming and promotion drive Web usage and traffic - and vice versa.
New version of MeasureCast
Portland, Ore.-based MeasureCast, Inc. has announced a new version of its streaming audience measurement service. Among the new features is network reporting, which enables MeasureCast customers to sort, classify, and organize audience data by state, geographical region, and format from the network level down to groups of stations. For example, media rep firms can roll up all of their client stations to show potential advertisers the breadth of their networks. Users also have the ability to perform side-by-side network comparisons. The MeasureCast Streaming Audience Measurement Service also offers daily trend, rank, demographic composition, and hour-by-hour reports.
The MeasureCast demographic composition reports now offer aggregate audience statistics for station groups. In addition, the improved reports provide confidence interval statistics that Nve a more precise measure of audience demographics. MeasureCast has also improved the overall usability of its service by adding one-click access to key reports, and buttons that lead to station owner information. Customers wishing to perform additional audience analysis can now export reports to popular spreadsheet applications.
Reporting module added to mantaINSIGHT
Ottawa-based Manta Corporation has added an advanced reporting module to mantaINSIGHT 3.0, the firm’s e-survey solution. With mantaINSIGHT, survey creation, deployment, monitoring and reporting are all Web-based. The new reporting module, which contains nine new report types and a wide variety of filtering functions, allows users to create graphical or text reports that summarize pertinent information obtained from a single survey - as well as include trend data from previous surveys. The new reporting options are in addition to the product’s existing charting, text and tabular reporting capabilities.
SmartViewer 2.2 from SPSS
Chicago-based SPSS Inc. has released SmartViewer Web Server 2.2, the firm’s distribution and content management tool for sharing interactive reports from SPSS, the company’s flagship software. Version 2.2 includes new features designed to make navigation easier and content more secure. SmartViewer Web Server now offers:
- Keyword searching - Users cannow quickly locate documents by searching for keywords and other metadata associated with each report.
- Enhanced security - Encryption technology has been added to ensure that sensitive information is transmitted in the most secure manner possible.
- Solaris and Oracle compatibility - SmartViewer Web Server is now available for the Solaris operating system and is fully compatible with Oracle databases. This combination provides a complete distribution solution for the Unix platform. With SmartViewer Web Server, users can rearrange rows, columns and layers with SPSS’ pivoting technology and slice and dice reports to reveal the information that matters most to them.