Advertising Tracking

Online advertising has been there since the early days of the Internet, but it has grown far more sophisticated in recent years. The ads we see now are often the product of digital stalking as companies try to track our every browsing move. The data we generate online has spawned a complex new ecosystem of firms tracking, interpreting and selling our data to advertisers.

## Ad Tracking

**Ad tracking**, also known as post-testing or ad effectiveness tracking, is in-market research that monitors a brand’s performance including brand and advertising awareness, product trial and usage, and attitudes about the brand versus their competition.

### Definition

A method used to check how many hits or clicks an ad receives. It is a useful tool for discovering where the most revenue comes from, and how to better personalize ads to reach more customers, and encourage them to buy more products.

## Purpose

The purpose of ad tracking is generally to provide a measure of the combined effect of the media weight or spending level, the effectiveness of the media buy or targeting, and the quality of the advertising executions or creative.

Advertisers use the results of ad tracking to estimate the return on investment (ROI) of advertising, and to refine advertising plans. Sometimes, tracking data are used to provide inputs to Marketing Mix Models which marketing science statisticians build to estimate the role of advertising, as compared to pricing, distribution and other marketplace variables on sales of the brand.

## Methodology

Today, most ad tracking studies are conducted via the Internet. Some ad tracking studies are conducted continuously and others are conducted at specific points in time. The two approaches use different types of analyses, although both start by measuring advertising awareness. Typically, the respondent is either shown a brief portion of a commercial or a few memorable still images from the TV ad. Other media typically are cued using either branded or de-branded visual of the ad. Then, respondents answer three significant questions:

1. Do you recognize this ad? (recognition measure)
2. Please type in the sponsor of this ad. (unaided awareness measure)
3. Please chose from the following list, the sponsor of this ad. (aided awareness measure)

The continuous tracking design analyzes advertising awareness over time, in relation to ad spending; separately, this design tracks brand awareness, and then develops indices of effectiveness based on the strength of the correlations between ad spending and brand awareness.

### What should be tracked?

There are number of aspects for analyzing the Ad performance which should be tracked:

* Number of clicks
* Number of sales
* Number of actions
* Total value of sales
* Cost of campaign
* Total profit or loss
* Cost Per Sale

Most companies track all those aspects, identify, and collect information about their users and their behavior, improving profits based on the data collected.

## Internet Tracking

There are several different tools to effectively track online ads: banner ads, ppc ads, pop-up ads, and other types. Several online advertising companies such as Google offer their own ad tracking service in order to effectively use their service to generate a positive ROI. Third-party ad tracking services are commonly used by affiliate marketers. Affiliate marketers are frequently unable to have access to the order page and therefore are unable to use a 3rd-party tool.

Many different companies have created tools to effectively track their commissions in order to optimize their profit potential. The information provided will show the marketer which advertising methods are generating income and which are not. This information will allow the marketer to effectively allocate his budget in the best possible way.

## See also

* Advertising
* Web analytics
* How to stop tracking advertisements

## References

1. ↑ "Ad Tracker: Definition and Use". Linktrack (2008).
2. ↑ Zeff, Robbin (1999). *Advertising on the Internet, 2nd Edition.* John Wiley & Sons ISBN 978-0-471-34404-9
3. ↑ Colman, S., & Brown, G. (1983). Advertising tracking studies and sales effects. *Journal of the market research society*.
4. ↑ Arnold, John K., et al. "Method and system for tracking the purchase of a product and services over the Internet." U.S. Patent No. 6,016,504. 18 Jan. 2000.