eFront And Media Metrix Numbers Scandal
from the looking-worse-every-day dept
As if eFront didn’t have enough problems with their pilfered ICQ logs now more details are coming out about how they tricked Media Metrix into believing they were a top 20 site when they weren’t even in the top 500. While there’s a lot of disagreement about who’s at fault, it’s pretty clear (if the ICQ logs didn’t make it clear already) that these aren’t the most trustworthy bunch of guys. They kept calling up sites they wanted to be eFront affiliates, and if they didn’t respond, eFront decided that they wouldn’t respond to anyone (how’s that for hubris?) and thus told Media Metrix that those sites were also part of the eFront affiliate program. This raised their “unique visitors” from (reality) under 400,000 to (fantasy) 12.5 million. This, of course, also raises a ton of questions about how Media Metrix checks its numbers.
