For Best Data On Internet User Research, Do It Yourself

Here’s one of my favorite topics: inadequacies of Indian research data. MSN India’s digital marketing head Rajnish makes some interesting observations on Indian Internet user research in this agencyfaqs column. “Inconsistency in the projection of the number of internet users in India is rooted in the methodology used to generate data by a research agency,” he says. Here are his two bits on numbers from various sources.

comScore: Fairly consistent as they track real time or actual usage of Internet throughout the world. They work with all the big players like Yahoo, MSN and Google.
JuxtConsult: Internet user base measured is based on recall data, which is not representative of actual usage.
TRAI Reliable when it comes to transparency as they track number of internet users through ISPs.

Rajnish goes on to say that if advertisers want to get accurate research on number of Internet users is to create a sample base and then install a special software in their computers, which tracks the time spent and unique visits by them. I think what he wants to suggest is if you want to get a proper picture of usage patterns then set up your own sample population for observation.

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