It looks as though Google is about to hand more ammunition to the critics who claim that it is fast gaining excessive power in the digital advertising industry.

A spokesperson for the company says that on Tuesday it will announce a new Web measurement tool to give advertisers a better idea of the true size of online audiences. This sort of information is badly needed - as we reported before, there are big disagreements over the way companies like comScore and Nielsen assess the size of a particular Website’s audience, and the row that has been raging over this issue has damaged what little credibility they had left.

Google should be in a better position than most to provide an accurate picture. While no details are available yet, one person close to the initiative says the analysis will come from data pulled directly from servers - both Google’s and those of third parties.

The new measurement tool will not be offered separately, our source says, but will be built into Google’s own media planning service. That suggests that only advertisers who run their campaigns on Google will get the extra insight. If so, this is a textbook example of how Google’s superior access to data could help it tighten its grip on digital advertising.

June 23rd, 2008 in Internet | Permalink