A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

Comparing apples to oranges?

With many different web analytics tools being used on different sites, it is important that 

there be standards for measuring visitor volumes. In particular, there are different tech-

niques for measuring unique visitors which can be measured through IP addresses, but 

this is more accurate if it is combined with cookies and browser types. International stand-

ards bodies such as the IFABC (

www.ifabc.org

) and Web Analytics Association (

www.

webanalyticsassociation.org

) and UK organisations such as ABC electronic (

www.abce.

org.uk

) and JICWEBS (

www.jicwebs.org

) have worked to standardise the meaning of and 

data collection methods for different measures. See Table 12.5 or visit these sites for the 

latest precise definition of the terms in this section. Media buyers are particularly inter-

ested in accurate audited figures of media sites and organisations such as ABC electronic 

are important for this.

Figure 12.12

Examples of different measures of visitor volume to a website

= All files downloaded

= 4,000,000

Hits

e.g.

= Docs viewed

= 1,200,000

Page views

e.g.

= Visits

= 120,000

Visitor sessions

e.g.