The difficulties of managing and monetizing audience data

A study released Wednesday by the Council for Research Excellence found that relatively few digital publishers have developed techniques for using data for audience measurement, advertising targeting, content refinement or "other meaningful purposes."

Rob O'Regan notes that part of the problem is the lack of a data owner and that data capture is uneven. "The amount and type of data publishers request from users vary greatly, with few universal data elements; email address and ZIP code are most commonly used. Very few participants require users to register and provide declared data - though nearly all employ optional user registration." Read more.