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Register Now For The “Measurement in 2010: Avoiding ‘Hybrid’ Confusion” Webinar

There is an audience measurement event on Wednesday 20 January. This live session will dig into the new 'Hybrid Model' for deep audience demographics. If you are responsible for online research or advertising sales, this is a 'must attend' event.

Register for The Audience Measurement Event

AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT 2010

• Wednesday, 20 January at 10:00 PST

• Speakers:

John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science

T.S. Kelly, Media Strategist

Register Online Now

New Survey: Females and Teens Most Prolific– and Regretful – Social Media Users

December 1, 2009 - Silicon Valley, California – Three times as many females as males surveyed call social media like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace their "favorite leisure activity" and almost twice as many females over age 21 "believe they spend far too much time on online social media", according to a survey of social media users conducted by Crowd Science (www.crowdscience.com) with its advanced research platform for online audience measurement.

Crowd Science found that:

• One-third (34%) of females vs. one-tenth (10%) of males who use social media said it was their favorite leisure activity.
• Over one-half (54%) of female study participants over age 21 who use social media vs. four-in-ten (38%) of males of the same age believe they spend far too much time on online social media.
• Over one-half more females than males over age 30 (45% vs. 29%) believe that most people are interested in what they have to say on social media.
• Detailed Study Results - Click Here

In addition to females who use social media, younger participants in the study also felt they use social media too much – 46% of teens (17 and under) and 38% of 18-29 year-olds. The figure drops dramatically to 23% for the 30-39 demographic, and 12% for those 40+. With almost half of teenaged participants admitting to over-use of social media, a similar proportion (44%) reported posting or saying things that they later regretted (vs. 30% for 18-29, 20% for 30-39 and 12% for 40+). Over a third of teens (35%) said they have used social media to reveal personal info that they wouldn't have revealed otherwise (vs. 20% for 18-29, 8% for 30-39 and 5% for 40+). However, about a fifth of all participants under 30 (21% for teens, 19% for 18-29) said it would be "extremely damaging to my social status if I stopped or reduced my use of online social media." Only 5% of 30-39 year-olds said this, and 3% of those 40 and over.

"The results of our study align with most people's intuition about the usage of social media by teens and young adults," said John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science. "As the economy recovers and this generation starts interviewing for jobs, there will be some interesting years ahead as they have to deal with a new level of transparency around their past adventures (and misadventures). I'm definitely glad I made it out of school before Facebook landed."

The Crowd Science study on social media users was conducted across more than 600,000 visitors to multiple websites within the Crowd Science open research network. The survey, targeting social media users age 13 and up, was conducted August 5-13, 2009.

About Crowd Science: Crowd Science was formed by experts in online market research and audience measurement with a mission to "raise the bar" in the measurement of online populations. Their goal is to help web properties understand all facets of their audience, including the impact of marketing and outreach efforts on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, through rigorous, verifiable interactive research. The company has developed an advanced platform for audience measurement and real-time survey research.

Six Internet Cookie Myths, BUSTED

Six Internet Cookie Myths, BUSTED

What exactly is an internet cookie? Just mention a "cookie" to most internet users and you're likely to get the same reaction: disgust and fear. Over the years, cookies have gained a rather unfortunate reputation. However, a cookie is really nothing more than one or more pieces of information stored as text strings on your machine.

Here are six of the top myths surrounding cookies, and the reasons these myths aren't true, according to the DailyBits Article, Internet Cookies Aren't Evil: 6 Myths Busted:

"Myth #1: Cookies are a form of virus or worm

Internet cookies cannot cause damage, unlike a computer virus or worm. In fact, cookies do not really have anything to do with your computer system, as it is only composed of text understandable by both your browser and the web server that sent it. In short, Internet cookies are composed of only data, not programmed or programmable code.

Myth #2: Cookies are spyware that give out your personal information

Internet cookies contain information like browser type, IP addresses, and some private information, like usernames, that you provided (out of your own free will, of course), and that fact makes you afraid of Internet cookies being spywares themselves. But fear not, for the reason why Internet cookies took such information about you is because they only want to customize your surfing activities to your own liking.

Myth #3: Internet cookies produce pop-ups or allow their entrance to your browser

This is definitely a “no-can-do” for Internet cookies. Simply put, pop-ups comprises an online advertising scheme that increase Internet traffic, as they are contained in a separate browser window once its link is clicked. I find it rather doubtful that an Internet cookie could be triggered, not to mention open a web browser and burden the fast-paced Internet traffic that has always been loaded with server requests and replies.

Myth #4: Cookies give way to spamming

Spamming, according to Wikipedia, is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. In relation to Internet cookies, this, certainly, is not one of the functions of an Internet cookie, especially since an Internet cookie is just a group of data, not a programmed or programmable code (this seems to be the best explanation for all the misconceptions people have against Internet cookies). Also, they can only serve as informative tools browsers use for the computer user and nothing more.

Myth #5: Cookies are for advertising purposes only

Cookies serve a lot of purpose other than advertising. While it is true that advertisers make use of the cookies’ ability to store browsing behaviors of users who click on their advertisements in a web page, Internet cookies are more than that. Actually, cookies care a lot about the consumers in this virtual market.

Like any form of media there is today, the Internet also runs on advertisements to make browsing websites free for consumers. Cookies allow advertisers to promote on different publishers’ websites for consumers. Through watching a consumer’s surfing behavior, the cookies ensure that, while keeping enough ads for advertisers to catch an audience and for publishers to generate income, consumers will not be bombarded by too much promotion.

Myth #6: The best way to avoid any damage caused by cookies is to disable and delete them

You don’t want to do this, believe me. Internet cookies make our virtual lives easier by giving us an option to remember all our seemingly repetitive details we keep on typing on websites’ textboxes."

All in all, cookies don't deserve the sinister reputation they have gained. They make our lives easier, keep our internet free, and certainly don't put us at risk for worms or viruses.

Check out the full article here Internet Cookies Aren't Evil: 6 Myths Busted

Crowd Science Twitter Study Continues to Generate Media Interest

eMarketer.com used Crowd Science's Twitter research study in their recent article Going Social Anywhere and Everywhere.

See our original discussion of the results here

Or, check out the summary graphics here

Online research webinar series

Two new offerings in our webinar series. Spend 25 minutes with a Crowd Scientist and get up to speed on best practices in online research and audience profiling.

You can register online at this link:
   Webinar Registration

Three Things to Fix in Online Survey Research
   When: 20 July 2009 at 1:30PM EDT, 10:30AM PDT
   Who: John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science
   Why: Get higher CPMs with better demographic research

Punching Up your Audience Profiling
   When: 20 July 2009 at 2:00PM EDT, 11:00AM PDT
   Who: Robert Hooven, VP Sales of Crowd Science
   Why: Learn About Deep Vertical Demographics

Online Registration:
   https://www.gotomeeting.com/join/291996002

All webinars are limited to a total of 100 registrations so that people have a chance to get their questions answered.

You will hear from the top experts in real-world, applied online research. The webinars are short; the materials are easy to grasp; and the proof is online today.

iPhone Overwhelms Blackberry and Others in Smartphone Loyalty:  Crowd Science Survey

June 23, 2009 - Silicon Valley, California. Four out of ten Blackberry and other smartphone users would switch to Apple's iPhone, as their next smartphone purchase, according to a recent survey conducted by Crowd Science via their advanced audience research platform and open research network. On the other hand, only 14% of non-Blackberry smartphone users would switch to a Blackberry for their next purchase. Meanwhile, a vast majority of iPhone users (82%) are loyal to the iPhone brand.

"These results reflect the great challenges Blackberry faces in stemming the iPhone stampede," said John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science. "They are also a great example of the kind of insight that can be gleaned when rigorous sampling and research techniques are applied to online populations," said John Martin. "In the days ahead, we'll lean on our research platform and continue to gauge the mindset of smartphone users and address the changing mobile landscape, including the Palm Pre, the iPhone 3G S and other up-to-the-minute developments."

Other survey results include:

• iPhone users outpace other smartphone owners in their use of a wide variety of phone functions – ranging from Internet and email to music, WiFi and GPS.
• Compared with Blackberry users, iPhone users report a significantly higher overall satisfaction level with their phone. In particular, iPhone users are more satisfied than other smartphone users with their phones' screen size, navigation, availability of add-ons, and video playback.
• A large majority of smartphone owners (71%) use them for both business and personal usages, with only 3% using them for business alone.

This study was conducted across the Crowd Science open research network, a group of websites from a wide range of topic areas serving over 20 million unique visitors profiled by Crowd Science's audience measurement technology. Through random probability sampling, respondents aged 14 years and older were invited to participate. Those accepting the invitation comprised the final sample of study participants. Data collection was conducted from May 19 to June 8, 2009.

For a complete synopsis of the study, including charts, please see
     Smartphone-Survey-Results (PDF)

About Crowd Science:
Crowd Science was formed by experts in online market research and audience measurement with a mission to "raise the bar" in the measurement of online populations. Their goal is to help web properties understand all facets of their audience through rigorous, verifiable interactive research. The company has developed an advanced platform for audience measurement and real-time survey research. The results are compelling: Crowd Science currently has several thousand active sites within their open research network.

Reminder: Audience profiling webinar tomorrow

Just a reminder that the second webinar of our three-part series is on tomorrow. We're going to look at ways to amp up your online audience profiling.

Punching Up your Audience Profiling
When: 9 June 2009 at 2:00PM EDT, 11:00AM PDT
Who: John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science
Why: Learn about deep vertical demographics

We still have some space, but registrations are limited.

Click here to register now and assure your seat.

See you then!

Crowd Science Launches Research Beta

Today we are launching a new era in online market research sample with the announcement of our market research sample beta program. Addressing the needs of the research industry by providing a new sampling methodology, the Crowd Science {Sample} harnesses the targeting benefits of traditional panels with the reach of river sampling.

The beta is open to a select number of research partners and online publishers that are part of the Crowd Science network.

Interested in finding out more or to join the program? Sign up as we will be taking on new partners as we increase capacity in this program.

Questionnaire Design: Response Scales - Part III

Part III: Choosing a Response Scale – Anchors aweigh!

So far, I’ve addressed why to use a response scale, and some things to consider in deciding the number of points in the scale. Now, how to label it?

Do you put verbal definitions on every point in the scale (AKA ‘fully anchored’), or use a partially anchored scale, say, only defining the two opposite ends, or maybe the two ends plus a definition for the mid-point if you have one? 

A picture’s worth a thousand words

Some scales don’t even use verbal descriptions, and rely on diagrams for conveying meaning, such as simple line drawings of faces with various expressions (e.g., big smile, medium smile, straight-line mouth, medium frown, and big frown). These types of scales may be successful with audiences that are pre-literate, illiterate or for whatever reason have difficulty expressing themselves with words – of course these situations may require an interviewer to assist in administering the questions. However, even with respondents who are able to read and understand the language of the questionnaire, such scales may make the experience more fun or engaging, depending on the situation. 

Too many words spoil the broth

However, most scales use words to define their points. A general rule of thumb is that it seems appropriate to fully anchor a scale if there are five or fewer points on it, and for scales with six or more points, a bi-polar anchor can do nicely. There may be cases where 6+ point scales can still be completely anchored on all points, but in some cases this can become tedious for respondents to read through (or in telephone surveys, to have it read out loud for every question).  On self-completed surveys, having so many labels may compromise the visual appeal, and the questionnaire may appear more cluttered-looking, longer, or confusing to the respondent.

Two’s company, three’s a crowd

You may wonder if it is helpful, when using bi-polar anchors, to also label the mid-point in order to provide another point of reference for the respondent. Here, I would argue that you may be introducing risk by calling unnecessary attention to the mid-point: this emphasis on the mid-point may tempt respondents to use it as a ‘way out’ from having to think about their response and provide an opinion. Mid-points can also be a tempting fall-back for lazy or fatigued respondents, and in my opinion the less we do to call attention to that half-way point in the scale, the better.

Tip number two

A new post from my Tip series is well overdue.  But before I get to it, I'd like to give you a quick update on some of our progress.  We are getting closer each day at completely opening our doors to everyone who has signed up to Crowd Science Demographics. So stay tuned. And once again, we appreciate your patience.

Now, without further ado here is my next tip:

Tip Number Two:  Making the most of your website classification.

Whenever you add a new website, we'll ask you to classify your website content by selecting categories from our predefined "Category" list provided on the "Edit your Site" page.  We recommend to review the entire list and classify your website appropriately to gather a richer data set.   If there is a category you feel we haven't covered, you can manually classify your website by adding keywords on the "Tags" section.

Depending on how you classify your website, our system will select three or four different questions that are topic related to show to your visitors within your core profile survey.  For instance, if you select "video games", we'll ask questions about gaming (i.e. Which of the following game consoles do you currently own?). This will help you gain a broader/fuller picture of your audience, and their interests. We think it's important to ask topic related questions on your profile survey not just to engage your audience, but to also gain a fuller picture of your audience's thoughts and opinions on topic related areas that matter to you. 

We are carefully filling out our library of topic related questions, which will be an ongoing task to keep our library relevant and comprehensive.   So although some of you may not see topic related questions yet, still take the time to classify your website from the moment you sign up to take advantage of these questions as soon as they become available.

If you would like to review or edit your site categories or tags, go to your site Overview page and click on the "Site Settings" link to get to your "Edit your Site" page.  And don't forget to save any changes you make.

Hope this helps.

Psst: If you have Crowd Science related questions or topics you want us to cover on our blog, just post a comment or shoot us an email at info@crowdscience.com, subject line: Blog Entry.

b5media Rocks!

One of the key factors to helping make a successful prototype to beta to launch process, lies in the ability to team up and develop partnerships with other firms and start-ups in the field. We’ve been very fortunate to have connected with the group at b5media who have been instrumental to help shape our product and service. Many of the great current features (and some cool ones coming down the pipe) are a direct result of feedback from Chad Randall (VP of Sales) and support of Jeremy Wright (CEO).

b5media manages a network of over 350 blogs and as with any publisher, having access to data about their audience is key to positioning, selling and targeting online advertising.

We look forward to a continued working relationship with the team. Thanks guys!