Political sites and blogs are increasingly influential in elections by providing relentless coverage of campaigns. They engage users through commenting features, allowing people to post entries and comments. This fosters debate and keeps discussions alive. Data shows some political sites now get as many visitors as mainstream news sites. Their partisan commentary may contribute to an "echo chamber" effect where like-minded views reinforce each other. Campaigns are recognizing the importance of these sites and targeting them with online ads.

1. THE DIGITAL POLITICO
5
Ways Digital Media
is Shaping the 2012
Presidential
Election
APRIL 2012

2. Introduction
Digital media has become one of the most – referring to a staffer from the opposing
significant game-changers ever seen in camp as a “macaca” – went viral and helped
influencing the political landscape. Perhaps spell his eventual demise for that campaign.
only rivaled by the advent of the TV – and the 2008 saw upstart Illinois Senator Barack
memorable first televised presidential debate Obama rely heavily on his digital operation –
in 1960 between Kennedy vs. Nixon – we have which included online advertising and online
seen digital media rapidly shape a completely fundraising with a strong social component
different political reality than many of us ever – as the lifeblood of his unlikely campaign for
envisioned just a decade ago. President. The 2010 mid-term elections were
the first in which Twitter played a key role,
Several watershed events over the past few providing a broadcast channel for candidates to
election cycles have demonstrated just how voice their thoughts, ideas and opinions directly
powerful digital media could be in shifting the to their constituents and public at large.
political narrative and determining winners
and losers. In 2004, Howard Dean first With so many forms of digital media
showed how the Internet could be used to redefining the political battleground, the past
build a grassroots campaign as he tapped into decade has seen a marked change in the
millions of supporters online and emerged as complexion of American democracy. In today’s
a viable candidate from there. In 2006, Virginia 24/7 media environment, news reaches
Senator George Allen saw his campaign get consumers faster than ever before, with every
derailed when a user-generated video clip of a word from candidates certain to be recorded
controversial comment he made on the stump and ready to be spun for the next news cycle.
2

3. Political blogs today serve as watchdogs, With the realities of this new digitally-
steadily advocating for issues important dominated political environment, campaigns
to their respective sides and ensuring that are becoming increasingly sophisticated about
political missteps do not get overlooked. developing teams and strategies designed to
deploy digital resources to reach and influence
Social media has emerged in recent election key voter constituencies. In the following
cycles not only as a means of facilitating the report, comScore shares a variety of data
spread and amplification of these themes, and insights that help explain how digital is
but also as a way to increase the velocity with being used by both parties in the run-up to the
which they get noticed. Digital ads are now Republican primary, and how these strategies
ubiquitous, helping to build candidates’ brands are likely to influence the upcoming general
and promote their bedrock issues to the public. election. We identify five key trends shaping
Online fundraising attracts small donors en the 2012 election cycle and how these themes
masse as donation platforms incorporate are likely to play out in the course of the
AUTHORS: social functions, engaging more people in the general election.
Andrew Lipsman democratic process as they rally their own
comScore, Inc. communities to support their candidates. Today,
+1 312 775 6510
press@comscore.com the White House itself has taken to using
Carmela Aquino technology to engage citizens further, using
comScore, Inc. YouTube to live stream press conferences and
+1 703 438 2024
press@comscore.com weekly “fireside chats” with the president.
Stay Connected
Follow @comscore
3

4. Contents
5 Digital Advertising Develops Candidate Brands and Engages Voter Groups
7 Social Media Delivers Valuable Exposure for Campaigns
11 Political Sites & Blogs Show Increasing Influence in the News Cycle
13 Candidates Defend Turf with Paid Search
15 Social Media Facilitates Online Fundraising
17 Conclusion
18 About comScore
19 Methodology and Definitions
This report utilizes data from the comScore suite of products, including comScore Media Metrix, Ad Metrix, Social
Essentials, Segment Metrix 2.0, and Search Planner. In instances where candidates are not represented in certain
charts, there was not enough data available to show an accurate comparison for them. For more information on
comScore products, please visit http://www.comscore.com/Products_Services.

5. DIGITAL #1 Digital Advertising Develops Candidate Brands and Engages Voter Groups
ADVERTISING With each successive political cycle, digital media continues
to ramp up and play a more prominent role in campaign
While the Obama campaign was blanketing the web with ads
in 2011, the Republicans were almost nowhere to be found. In
outreach operations. While TV and radio ads still dominate fact, the Obama campaign outnumbered the combined effort
In February 2012, campaign expenditures, digital media tactics are increasingly of the four leading Republican campaigns with any notable
Obama had the highest being used to influence the media narrative and voter online ad presence by a ratio of 10 to1 in the past six months,
share of voice in online perceptions. In recent years, the Obama campaign has been reflecting a significant difference in advertising strategy
at the forefront of this movement, going on a targeted digital between Obama and the rest of the candidates. In February
display ad impressions offensive long before other candidates did. alone, Obama had a share of voice in display advertising
compared to other of 86 percent compared to the rest of the candidates, who
Early in 2011, the Obama campaign began delivering a
candidates. massive number of online display ads across the web each
opted instead to use the more traditional channels of TV and
radio advertising to influence the hearts and minds of voters,
month and it has trended steadily upward since. In January, especially in the critical days before voters cast their ballots
the campaign delivered 778 million ads and followed that up in the primaries. As a result, Republicans seem to largely be
with 835 million in February, representing millions of dollars of underplaying the digital advertising channel, at least at this
online advertising each month. stage of the campaign.
Obama for America: Display Ad Trends Presidential Candidates: Display Ad Share of Voice
Source: comScore Ad Metrix, U.S., Apr-2011 - Feb-2012 Source: comScore Ad Metrix, U.S., Feb-2012
5

6. DIGITAL Without the need to fight in a primary, the Obama campaign’s
online strategy reveals that it is likely more interested in long-
for President advertised mostly on Facebook, with 58.2
percent of its ads coming over the social network – the
ADVERTISING term voter engagement and brand-building. An analysis of highest percentage seen for any candidate so far. Newt 2012
some of the most heavily-placed ads by the Obama campaign delivered nearly 30 percent of its display ads through the
over the first few months of the year reveals a few themes Drudge Report and more than 20 percent through the Fox
emerging: (1) general brand-building, (2) issue definition, News Digital Network – both sites known to have conservative
and (3) voter & constituency engagement. The ads below leanings. Meanwhile, Rick Santorum for President delivered
highlight each of these appeals to supporters. More recently, the highest share of its display ad impressions on TheBlaze.
ads targeted to specific voter groups have appeared. These com, Glenn Beck’s political blog owned by Clear Channel.
include Women for Obama and even Pet Lovers for Obama. These differences in strategy suggest that Santorum and
Gingrich have been focusing primarily on primary voters, while
Analysis of the top 3 web publishers of display ads for each the Romney campaign may have always had its eyes looking
of the leading Republican candidates reveals an interesting ahead to the general election.
mix of strategies. Over the past six months, Mitt Romney
Share of Advertiser Ad Impressions for Top 3 Publishers for Each Campaign
Source: comScore Ad Metrix, U.S., Sep-2011 to Feb-2012
Display Ad Impressions
Share of Advertiser
6

7. SOCIAL #2 Social Media Delivers Valuable Exposure for Campaigns
MEDIA Social media’s ubiquity and rise in popularity in recent Democratic social strategies to date demonstrates how and
years have largely contributed to shaping a more social why it needs to be considered along with each of the other
environment online – not just among friends, but also more established media channels. Like other mass media,
between brands and consumers as well as candidates and social media has the ability to reach an audience and deliver
voters. Today, social media has become an integral part of an impression with the ability to persuade a voter’s opinion
the political media landscape, growing as a primary channel and compel them to act. What has not traditionally been
for campaigns to reach out to their constituents, provide understood is the scale at which social media can reach
open lines of communication, and weigh in on the issues of prospective audiences and how it may actually influence the
the day (when they can’t get on TV, of course). behavior of those reached. The following data reveal how
campaigns can capitalize on ‘earned’ media impressions
Through social media, a wider group of voters have found through Facebook that can be similar in scale – and in
a way of more actively engaging in political discussion, some cases much larger – than the number of impressions
debates, and issue advocacy. Whereas people may once delivered by their paid display ad campaigns. Earned
have gathered in small groups to share their political impressions are defined as advertising messages people
opinions, they are now able to do the same with a broader pass on to their friends and associates via social networks,
number of people online by simply writing a post and functioning as bonus advertising providing additional
clicking a link to share these with friends. As a result, in exposures at no added cost.
addition to (and in some cases in place of) the political
conversations that typically take place in small groups
around office watercoolers, similar conversations now take
place on people’s Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds,
26.1 MILLION 2.4 MILLION 1.6 MILLION 281,000
giving birth to the “digital watercooler.” The true power of Facebook Fans Site Visitors Facebook Fans Site Visitors
the “digital watercooler,” however, is the ability to amplify
these debates – which used to occur between a few people
– to dozens or even hundreds of people in one’s social Barack Obama Mitt Romney
networks.
Beyond merely engaging a core base of supporters,
however, campaigns have also found value in social media
as a means for reaching a broader prospective audience.
Although social media continues to evolve as an advertising Source: comScore Media Metrix, U.S., Mar-2012, and Facebook, Apr-2012
channel, a comScore analysis of both the Republican and
7

8. SOCIAL While the Obama campaign delivered nearly 800 million the virality ratio (ratio of paid to earned impressions), Ron
MEDIA paid display ads in January – a significant number on
its own – it leveraged Obama’s 25 million Facebook
Paul clearly won that race by getting more than twice as
many free exposures than the number he paid for. If one
fans to deliver nearly 66 million additional earned were to apply the average online display ad CPM (cost
The Obama impressions virally. On the Republican side, Ron Paul per thousand impressions) of $3, then the 30 million
campaign more than doubled his paid media presence with earned earned impressions received by the Ron Paul campaign
generated impressions, while Romney received half as many were worth nearly $100,000 in advertising in one month.
impressions and Santorum nearly matched his paid total. Because messages endorsed by friends can in some cases
almost as In other words, the Obama campaign generated almost be more likely to persuade the thoughts and feelings of
much free as much free advertising by fans spreading ad messages those exposed, the value of these viral impressions may
advertising by virally as the sum total of all the paid advertising of all the be far greater than the initial estimate. The digital lesson
Republican candidates. there is that a compelling ad will indeed travel, amplifying
fans spreading
the candidate’s message and value of the online dollars
ad messages It is fair to say that on sheer volume of exposure, the spent. It is well worth the time and effort for campaigns to
virally as the Obama campaign is far outpacing Republicans in understand the degree to which the message resonates
leveraging social media. On the other hand, if we look at
sum total of with fans before running the campaign.
all the paid Barack Obama: Selected Republican Presidential Candidates:
advertising Total Paid Ad Impressions (000) vs. Earned Media Impressions Total Paid Ad Impressions (000) vs. Earned Media Impressions
of all the (000) on Facebook
Source: comScore Ad Metrix and Social Essentials, U.S., Jan-2012
(000) on Facebook
Source: comScore Ad Metrix and Social Essentials, U.S., Jan-2012
Republican
candidates.
8

9. SOCIAL An analysis of the frequency of exposures across candidates
is also insightful. On average, each paid exposure to a fan
Another important component of a campaign’s social
media presence is to understand which audiences they
MEDIA results in .68 of an exposure to a friend of that fan. This are reaching. One might assume that those who visit the
further demonstrates the unique capabilities of social media campaign’s website or who become fans of a given candidate
in engaging a broader mix of users. Gingrich ads stood out are likely to be engaged constituents and supporters. While
as an exception to the general pattern in that they managed that may certainly be the case, our data also suggest that
to expose friends of fans more often than his actual fans. these two groups may be very different audiences in reality.
Even though Gingrich had a much smaller base of fans, this For example, 57 percent of visitors to BarackObama.com
suggests those fans were passing those messages onto their are age 45 and older, compared to just 22 percent of his
friends at an unusually high rate of frequency Facebook fans. Overall, his social audience skews younger
than the audience he reaches via his website. Mitt Romney,
Frequency of Impressions for Fans and Friends of Fans
on the other hand, shows the opposite pattern. Although
Source: comScore Social Essentials, Jan-2012 he has not yet amassed an audience that is anywhere near
President Obama’s, the audience he is reaching through
social means actually skews older than the audience that
Barack
Obama
7.0 visits his website. Such marked differences suggest that
5.1
campaign operations must understand who their audience is
11.4
Mitt Romney for each media and design their strategies accordingly.
6.4
Rick
18.7
Santorum
8.9
Newt 8.8
Gingrich
11.2
Ron Paul 24.3
9.1
Frequency of Impressions per Fan Frequency of Impressions per Friend
This illustration highlights how social media effectively serves
as a channel for campaigns to generate a word-of-mouth
effect among supporters, broadening the reach of their
campaign messages at a fraction of what it would normally
cost to do so on other platforms.
9

10. SOCIAL Selected Presidential Candidates:
Demographic Composition of Site Visitors vs. Facebook Fans
MEDIA Source: comScore Ad Metrix and Social Essentials, U.S., Jan-2012
10

11. SITES #3 Political Sites & Blogs Show Increasing Influence in the News Cycle
& BLOGS Political sites and blogs have played an increasingly important
role in elections, with their relentless coverage of the election
in political debates, more than mainstream news sites. For
instance, DailyKos, one of the most prominent progressive
horserace and growing influence as sources in the digital blogs online, thrives on contributions from community
ecosystem. It has been argued that the emergence of such members, as users of the site are able to post their own
overtly partisan commentary channels feeds into an “echo entries for discussion and place comments on leading
chamber” effect in American media, where political outlets stories. In fact, across most political sites, the comment
sharing the same views have, over time, created a self- section has emerged as one of the most engaging site
reinforcing and polarizing environment for partisan discourse.1 sections, fostering debate and keeping discussions alive.
To quantify the impact of the vastly growing ecosystem of
political sites, comScore analyzed at a selection of political
sites and blogs. The left-leaning Huffington Post Politics Visitation to Selected Political Sites and Blogs
page – the most heavily visited property in the Politics Source: comScore Media Metrix, U.S., Feb-2012
category in February - attracted 9.2 million U.S. unique
visitors, representing 4.2 percent of all Americans online.
NewsMax, a conservative news site, attracted more than 4.6
million Americans. For context, MSNBC, CNN, and the New
York Times – some of the most visited mainstream news
outlets online – reached between 30 million and 48 million
Americans in February 2012.
While these political sites currently reach only a fraction of
the audience of mainstream news sites, it is important to note
that they have in many cases been instrumental in breaking
stories and covering issues that have exploded all over
national news, inciting dialogue, and leading to far-reaching
repercussions. Furthermore, political sites and blogs, in
particular, have shown an ability to engage their audiences
1
Jamieson, K. H. & Cappella, J. N. (2008). Echo chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the conservative media establishment. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
11

12. SITES To what extent do political sites engage visitors with the
same views or reach across the aisle? An analysis of the
Share of Minutes Consumed on Selected Political Site
Audiences by Party Affiliation
& BLOGS political affiliations of site audiences reveals some interesting Source: comScore Segment Metrix, i360 Segments, Feb-012
observations. As one might expect, many of the sites to the
While political right of the political spectrum show higher percentages of TalkingPointsMemo.com
Republicans. Similarly, among left-leaning sites, a greater HuffPost Politics
blogs and sites percentage of Democratic visitors can be found. However, DailyKos.com
may attract a good one should note that the differences aren’t significant in many Politico.com
amount of visitors cases. Perhaps what is most interesting is that for most of
DailyCaller.com
these sites, Independents comprise the largest share of unique
from across party NewsMax.comSites
visitors. Another interesting dynamic is that although these sites
lines, they appear feature a higher percentage of visitors from their respective Breitbart.com
to still be more political bent, there continues to be a notable percentage of DrudgeReport.com
likely to regularly visitors from the other side of the aisle, suggesting that people
are not necessarily living in a partisan echo chamber and are in
engage visitors fact consuming more of a balanced media diet.
who share the
However, a deeper look into the share of time spent on these
same views. Political Affiliation for Selected Political Site Audiences sites by each segment makes it clearer which side of the aisle
Source: comScore Segment Metrix, i360 Segments, Feb-2012 is really engaging in site content. While Talking Points Memo
shows a notable percentage of Republican visitors to its
TalkingPointsMemo.com sites, Democrats account for the vast majority of time spent
HuffPost Politics on the site. Similarly, while the Daily Caller shows a fairly high
DailyKos.com percentage of visitors identified as Democrats, Republicans
Politico.com
account for more than two-thirds of time spent by all visitors on
the site. Thus, while political blogs and sites may attract a good
DailyCaller.com
amount of visitors from across party lines, they are still more
NewsMax.comSites
likely to regularly engage visitors who share the same views.
Breitbart.com
DrudgeReport.com
12

13. PAID #4 Candidates Defend Turf with Paid Search
SEARCH Another form of candidates’ digital media expenditure that
should not be overlooked is search. Many low-information
Trend in Paid Search Impressions (000)
Source: comScore Search Planner, U.S., Nov-2010 to Feb-2012
voters’ first or second impression of a particular candidate
More than 60 gets formulated when they search for that candidate online.
percent of click- With the significant amount of highly partisan rhetoric
throughs to floating around the web – much of it falling short on factual
accuracy – it has never been more important for candidates
BarackObama.com
to ensure the first information potential voters see is
came from paid legitimate. This issue was perhaps most pronounced with
search ads. Rick Santorum, whose top organic search result on Google
famously links to a vulgar definition of his name. Such
inauspicious organic results can partially be drowned out
through effective use of paid search advertising.
Although President Obama is clearly the most visible
and well known of the candidates, his campaign has In the last six months, paid search advertising contributed to
consistently purchased paid search advertising in order to the various candidates’ sites in varying degrees. More than
direct constituents to his website. The leading Republican 60 percent of click-throughs to BarackObama.com came
candidates did minimal paid search advertising during most from paid search ads – the highest among the candidates.
of 2011, but began to ramp up quickly at the end of the Search engine click-throughs to RickSantorum.com were
year and into 2012. In January, Santorum even surpassed also driven by a similarly high percentage at 56 percent.
the Romney campaign in paid search impressions despite a While Santorum’s “Google problem” may have necessitated
pronounced fundraising disadvantage. greater search advertising expenditure, he did go on to
become significantly more competitive at that point with an
early primary win in Iowa and subsequent wins throughout
the Midwest and South. This investment in search might
well have played a role.
13

14. PAID % of Click-Throughs to Selected Campaign Sites from
Paid Search
SEARCH Source: comScore Search Planner, U.S., Sep-2011 to Feb-2012
14

15. #5 Social Media Facilitates Online Fundraising
ONLINE
One of the most significant imprints digital has left on Ron Paul, among other grassroots candidates, has
FUNDRAISING democracy is the role it has played in democratizing popularized the notion of the “moneybomb,” whereby large
the online fundraising process. In the 2004 Democratic amounts of money are raised in a narrow window of time
Obama’s Facebook nomination, the insurgent Howard Dean campaign first with social media serving as the primary mechanism of
fans and their friends demonstrated how the Internet could be used to not only message dissemination to attract contributors.
keep campaigns afloat but actual help them compete
donated at a rate 2.5 To better understand how social media exposure might
in the primary process. With each subsequent political
times that of the cycle, online fundraising has grown and the 2008 Obama influence online fundraising efforts, we analyzed the
donation rate among Barack Obama fans and friends as
non-fans. campaign set a new standard for how average voters could
engage with campaigns through their pocketbooks, raising compared to donors who were not among these segments.
a formidable half billion dollars online from small donations.2 The results showed that fans and friends (0.022% donor
penetration) donated at a rate 2.5 times that of the non-
Social media has also emerged as an important aspect of fans (0.009% donor penetration).
political engagement, with most politicians now engaging
with their constituents over Facebook and Twitter. Once
again, the 2008 Obama campaign paved the way for Percentage of Segments Who Donated on BarackObama.com
Source: comScore Social Essentials, U.S., Oct-2011 to Feb-2012
social media’s influence in politics with its Facebook
presence and its own social network mybarackobama.com.
But it was really the Republican candidates and members
of Congress who took the lead with Twitter and showed 0.022%
how that tool could be used effectively during the 2010
election cycle.
Here in 2012, we will see the intersection of online 0.009%
fundraising and social media like we have never seen
before. The Internet makes it easier for people to donate
online, but social media increasingly provides the impetus.
Fans & Friends
All Other
2
Vargas, J. A. (2008, November 20). Obama raised half a billion online. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://voices.washingtonpost.
com/44/2008/1 1/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html
15

16. ONLINE Despite their higher likelihood of giving – as might be
expected given their stated affinity for Barack Obama –
As the general election begins to heat up in earnest
and citizens start donating with greater regularity and
FUNDRAISING they actually donated less on average ($18) than the other in higher amounts, we can expect to see social media
donor segment ($28). Upon further investigation, we found play an increasingly important role in fundraising velocity.
that these donors were typically significantly younger than In particular, watch for the “moneybomb effect” around
other donors, with 26 percent under age 35 compared to 7 landmark events during the course of the campaign.
percent among the non-fan segment. This finding suggests
that social media may be a particularly effective channel in
soliciting smaller donations from wider numbers of users.
While the fundraising itself is important to the campaign,
there is an added benefit to simply getting donors to
contribute any amount, however small, because it affirms
their commitment to the campaign and makes them more
likely to get out to the polls on election day and engage in
candidate advocacy.
Barack Obama Online Donors:
Demographic Composition of Facebook Fans & Friends vs.
Non-Fans
Source: comScore Social Essentials, U.S., Oct-2011 to Feb-2012
16

17. Conclusion
As we conclude the primary portion of the 2012 election But the Romney campaign will be formidable, especially as
season and Mitt Romney assumes the unofficial mantle it manages to rapidly consolidate resources and implement
of Republican nominee, it will be interesting to see if big picture campaign strategies. The campaign has the
and how each campaign applies the lessons of the past opportunity to reintroduce Mitt Romney to the public
several months to leverage the digital channel in the through brand-building ads that help court moderates and
months ahead. While the Romney campaign is not short independents, particularly women. It must also get creative
on resources, it certainly has its work cut out for it on the about quickly narrowing Romney’s social media deficit and
digital battleground. push his fan count past 10 million if he intends to leverage
this valuable network for message amplification, campaign
The Obama campaign has established itself as a fairly organization and get-out-the-vote operations.
well-oiled machine when it comes to digital campaign
strategy. Its online political advertising efforts are The next six months of the general election will be a
targeted, attention-grabbing and speak to particular multimedia extravaganza, and digital strategy will be
constituencies. The campaign’s social media following front and center in driving the narrative and ultimately
also leads by a wide margin, providing the campaign with helping determine who wins and who loses. We will all
a strong network that can be leveraged to drive online be watching closely to see if the Romney campaign can
fundraising. defeat the Obama campaign on its home court – the digital
battleground.
17

18. About comScore, Inc.
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in
measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital
business analytics. comScore helps its clients better
understand, leverage and profit from the rapidly evolving
digital marketing landscape by providing data, analytics
and on-demand software solutions for the measurement
of online ads and audiences, media planning, website
analytics, advertising effectiveness, copy-testing, social
media, search, video, mobile, cross-media, e-commerce,
and a broad variety of emerging forms of digital consumer
behavior. comScore services, which now include the
product suites of recent acquisitions AdXpose, Nedstat,
Nexius XPLORE, ARSGroup and Certifica, are used
by more than 1,800 clients around the world, including
global leaders such as AOL, Baidu, BBC, Best Buy,
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ViaMichelin and Yahoo!.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, For more information, please visit www.comscore.com
PLEASE CONTACT:
Andrew Lipsman
comScore, Inc.
+1 312 775 6510
press@comscore.com
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comScore, Inc.
+1 703 438 2024
press@comscore.com
Stay Connected
Follow @comscore
18

19. Methodology and Definitions
This report utilizes data from the comScore suite of products, including comScore Media Metrix, Ad Metrix, Social
Essentials, Segment Metrix 2.0, and Search Planner.
comScore Media Metrix
The comScore Media Metrix suite of syndicated products sets the standard for digital audience measurement and media
planning. Powered by Unified Digital Measurement™, the revolutionary measurement approach that bridges panel-based
and website server-based metrics to account for 100 percent of a site’s audience, Media Metrix delivers the most accurate
and comprehensive suite of audience metrics, providing valuable demographic measures, such as age, gender, household
income and household size. Media Metrix reports on more than 70,000 entities, with audience measurement for 43
individual countries and 6 global regions, as well as worldwide totals.
For more information, please visit:
www.comscore.com/Products_Services/Product_Index/Media_Metrix_Suite
comScore Ad Metrix
comScore Ad Metrix provides competitive intelligence for tracking display advertising, reporting on key person-based
metrics and uncovering unique contextual insights. Using patented proprietary technology, Ad Metrix is able to track all ads
delivered to panelists, offering visibility into category, company and brand level advertisements. Ad Metrix also provides
details on creative messages used in specific campaigns and reports on the full range of advertising metrics, such as
expenditures, share of voice, ad clutter, exposed unique visitors, frequency, reach, GRPs and publisher-level demographics.
For more information, please visit:
www.comscore.com/Products_Services/Product_Index/Ad_Metrix
19

20. Methodology comScore social Essentials
and comScore Social Essentials helps quantify social media marketing efforts by providing insight into the demographic and
behavioral composition of a brand’s social media audience, the reach and frequency of social media brand impressions.
definitions Social Essentials also offers competitive intelligence across brands and the ability to tie social media exposure to desired
consumer behaviors including brand engagement and spending propensity. Currently, Social Essentials is only available for
Facebook.
For more information, please visit:
www.comscore.com/Products_Services/Product_Index/Social_Essentials
comScore Segment Metrix 2.0
comScore Segment Metrix 2.0 provides actionable insights into the online behavior of Internet users across a variety of
robust industry-leading segmentation schemes, helping marketers and publishers understand the online behavior of their
target audiences. Segment Metrix 2.0 incorporates industry-leading segmentation approaches from a variety of partners.
This report shows insights from i360 Segments, which leverage offline data on voter registration, political affiliation, issue
alignment, and behavioral demographics.
For more information, please visit:
www.comscore.com/Products_Services/Product_Index/Segment_Metrix_2.0
comScore Search Planner
comScore Search Planner informs search strategy by delivering direct insight into paid and organic search results across
all search engines. Search Planner provides the ability to analyze search terms driving traffic to specific sites, benchmark
search-term performance for a site against competition and the industry, and quantify opportunities and estimate click-
through rates and search spending.
For more information, please visit:
www.comscore.com/Products_Services/Product_Index/Search_Planner
20
© 2012 comScore, Inc.