Web fragmentationa network analysis approach

Gašper Koren, Matej KovačičFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana

Zenel BatageljCATI – Marketing, Media and Social Research & Consulting

University of LjubljanaFaculty of social sciences

Internet as a Network

• Internet is a network of servers, connected together

• WWW is a network of web pages, connected together with hyperlinks

Ideal examples for large network analysis

Internet and its’ Users

• Marketing and Social research Internet as a medium Importance of the users

• Audience measurement

• Advertising measurement

Internet Activities/Audience Measurement

1) Server-centric approach (Log Analysis)• Limited to “one-site” measurement (usually)• Problems of inference from server data to the

behavior of the users

2) User-centric approach• Problems of the recall• Expensive• Intrusive

Cookie-Pixel based technology

Central (AD/Measurement)Server

Main Cookie-PixelDATABASE

Server A - Pixel ID: A

Server B - Pixel ID: B

Server C – Pixel ID: C

Web Meta-Data• WEBTRACKER

http://www.ljudmila.org/matej/webtracker/

• Java Script within HTML code with hidden values Running on users computer (localy)

• Data automatically submitted to Central server Database

Unknown to userProblems with Java-Script blockingMozilla

• Can be matched with Web Survey data

TEST

WWW as Two-Mode Network

Relation:

User visiting Web SiteSet 2

Web SitesSet 1

Visitors

Complete Network of Web Sites

Relation: Common User of two

Web Sites

Complete Network Web Site Visitors

Relation: Visiting common Web

site

Example: WWW.Si Monitor

• Data collected in WWW.Si Monitor ( )

• Cookie-Pixel based data collection on 28 Slovenian web sites

• 478.920 Different Users• 186.717 Users visited at least two of

measured Web Sites within measuring period (28. March – 8. April 2002)

28 Verticies (Web Sites)

Web sites withmore than 3,000 common users

Web sites withmore than 5,000 common users

Web sites withmore than 6,000 common users

Web sites withmore than 12,000 common users

What else should be done?• Collect the data on as much web sites as

possible• Match data from different sources

Cookie-Pixel Technology (knowledge about Web Sites’ visiting)

Meta-DataSurvey Data

(socio-psychography of Web Sites’ users)

• Network model should be developedDepends on problem

Privacy issues

• Several dimensions of privacy.• For this case is relevant information privacy, which is a

right of individual to keep the data and information about himself private.

• Legislation principles for collecting data: relevancy, notification of use and time storage, compliance of

individual.

• Not fully applied on the internet. • Privacy on the Internet - An integrated EU Approach to

On-line Data Protection - November 2000.