comScore Introduces Significant Enhancements to Search Measurement With comScore qSearch 2.0
RESTON, Va., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the launch of comScore qSearch 2.0, the second generation of search measurement.
Context & Ripple Effects
comScore has spent 2007 turning search measurement into a recurring franchise: monthly U.S. engine rankings like its June qSearch release have become the de facto scoreboard the industry quotes, sitting alongside Media Metrix, Video Metrix, and global audience studies in the company's product line.
With qSearch 2.0, announced the same day as an expanded U.S.-and-global rollout, comScore is upgrading the methodology behind those numbers — a move that matters because whoever defines how searches are counted effectively sets every engine's market share headline.
First-order effects
- Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and the smaller engines are now measured under a revised counting methodology, so their reported query volumes and share points can shift on paper without any change in actual user behavior.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers and agencies that buy against comScore's published shares must recalibrate comparisons to prior months, giving comScore more pricing leverage as the mandatory reference point for search-market sizing.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, panel-based measurement firms consolidate their position as private standard-setters: engines compete not only for users but for the definition of the metric they are ranked on.
The trend: Third-party measurement products like qSearch are hardening into the market interfaces through which search engines' competitive standing is defined and traded.