New technologies are developed every day which are more sophisticated and better able to identify individual visitors. This paper will review the evolution of Web market research techniques and will preview future technologies for Web site tracking. We will also provide links to the Web pages of market research firms that conduct this type of research. Finally, we will include a glossary of terminology. Clickstream Analysis One of the earliest forms of Web site market research was clickstream analysis.
Hits imply that a user has been exposed to the page and the deeper material on linked pages.
For example, a one-second visit to a home page containing 20 hyperlinks counts as 20 hits. Corresponds to advertising impressions. These pages often occupy several screens, however the user may not scroll all the way through the page. Corresponds to gross exposures. Corresponds to reach.