Coremetrics Announces Launch of Impression Attribution

Groundbreaking Solution Links Behaviors and Conversions to Online Campaigns

SAN MATEO, Calif.– Coremetrics, the leading provider of online marketing and business optimization solutions, today announced the launch of Coremetrics Impression Attribution™, the first solution to analyze the value of online marketing campaigns that occur outside a company’s website. Impression Attribution effectively connects online behavior to the many marketing campaigns people are exposed to across the Web, even if that exposure includes un-clicked campaigns. For the first time, a company will receive an integrated view of exactly what combination of display ads, widgets, syndicated videos, microsites or other online campaigns drove people to the company’s website and/or to complete a transaction. Impression Attribution will be available on Feb. 23, 2009.

Previously, the impact of un-clicked online marketing has proven difficult to measure, and therefore, difficult to optimize. However, with visitors and buyers taking longer than ever to complete an online transaction or purchase, they are being exposed to myriad online marketing campaigns before converting. Businesses are under extreme pressure to measure the efficacy of their online marketing campaigns, justifying investments based on results and adjusting accordingly. With Impression Attribution, companies will now be able to obtain a complete understanding of online visitor behavior and conversion patterns by tying online marketing exposure to website behavior.

“Coremetrics Impression Attribution will enhance our understanding of marketing message and spend efficacy,” said Lance Nelson, SVP of Technology for Aptimus, Inc., the company responsible for managing all University of Phoenix online advertising initiatives. “The application will enable a more complete understanding of user experience across all channels in which our advertising may appear, including externally sourced media.”

Although the algorithm behind Impression Attribution is complex, the solution is fairly simple for customers to implement. Coremetrics clients tag their display ads, widgets, syndicated videos, micro-sites and other content with the Impression code, which then maps the visitor’s impressions to activity on the Client site. This mapping forms the basis for multi-session attributed metric calculation and analysis, such as sales, orders, conversion events, and page views.

“Users of Web analytics tools constantly struggle with the question of attribution,” said Bill Gassman, Industry Analyst at Gartner, Inc. “New approaches are needed to increase the visibility of how content that is delivered off-site, such as advertising and video clips, drives behavior on-site.”

“Our customers have told us they struggle to understand how the millions of ad impressions they buy result in conversions on their web sites,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics. “These companies have aggressively expanded their Web 2.0 initiatives—widgets, micro-sites, syndicated videos—but can’t measure how often they are viewed or how they influence downstream conversion. Now with Impression Attribution, businesses will be able to track these impressions and click-thrus via a single interface, gaining deeper insight than ever into what drives people to their websites and what ads truly deliver value.”