When it comes to measuring U.S. audiences for Web sites, Media Metrix is where the industry focuses its gaze, in large part.
Publishers watch the numbers to see where they sit in relation to the competition.
The company's numbers, which measure the reach of Web sites in terms of percentage of Internet users who visit a site during a given month, are watched particularly closely by major local-market news publishers, because they tell the world how the biggest local news sites are doing in their own markets compared with the most popular national Web sites. Often, those local publishers don't like what they see. And sometimes, they blame Media Metrix's methodology for what they believe are under-representations of their true Web reach in their home markets. Local measurements Media Metrix, which last year merged with Relevant Knowledge, issues quarterly reports on local market Web audience ratings in 14 of the largest U.S. metro areas. The company tracks Web site usage with a panel of 40,000 U.S. Web users, who have tracking software installed on their PCs to provide detail of their surfing habits.