RSS Average Daily Readership Explained

As you might remember, the Average Daily Readership RSS metric was introduced not long ago, opening many RSS metrics related questions, which we posed in the "What is Average Daily Readership?" article.

An especially relevant comment came from Tom Forenski:

"These are fundamental issues that have to be solved to allow RSS to become a platform for an ecosystem of companies.

Rok, you've highlighted something that could act as a roadblock to effective use of RSS. And hopefully, that will help find the solution."

Today I got a response from Stuart Watson of Syndicate IQ, which solves the puzzle from Syndicate IQs side.

Here's the response in full ...

a] How is ADR calculated, using what precise formula? In my opinion, this question will need to be answered if the RSS industry is to establish credible metrics for advertisers.

"By having a unique ID as part of the RSS URL, we include that same ID as part of the XML file. When that ID is "seen" by the Trigon Engine either as part of an image request or a click-thru (redirect) for any article within a feed, the system counts that once and only once for a 24 hour period.

Here is an example: 50 unique RSS URLs request a specific feed on a daily basis. 5 new articles are published daily. 10 unique IDs either view or click on at least one article every day. The same 10 unique IDs read every article causing the "VIEW" image tag embedded in the article to serve. So here is what typical feed stats might look like for one day:

Feed Name	Circulation	Views
Feed 1	50	50

Content publishers may assume many things with this information: at least everyone is reading one article; at least half are reading 2 articles, etc.. In reality, 20% of the people requesting the content read at least one article.

Our reporting would be:

Feed Name	Subscriptions	ADR	Views
Feed 1	50	10	50

Over the course of a week and month, our publishers measure the % change in subscriptions and ADR across multiple feeds. Measuring reach, not just how many RSS readers request content, is critical to calculating ROI for marketers, advertisers, and publishers."

b] Since ADR is an equivalent to a unique user to a web site, how is that user determined in RSS standards?

"First, there is no standard at this point. It will likely come with various vendors working together to establish a common measurement(s) created in conjunction with other standard bodies such as those for online advertising and web site analytics.

The two most common ways to identify a "unique user" is either:

1. Unique RSS URL
2. An algorithm parsing IP/Agent combinations combined with the web-based aggregators' subscriber counts.

A unique user can be identified using an IP address and web browser. A RSS reader is not a web browser. But what if someone utilize Bloglines? Bloglines is still an RSS reader. It caches content for thousands of people. The content is read using a web browser. It provides hi-level data (number of subscribers and total views). Not very useful if you want to measure how many subscribers are actually reading the content.

Just as metrics evolved for the web and email, it is happening for RSS."

c] How is ADR calculated if a feed is widely syndicated, instead of being consumed my just one user?

"If widely syndicated, ADR does not get inflated because it is only counted once. So one unique ID equals one syndicator. Once the unique ID is counted in a 24-hour period, it does not get counted again. We use three different data points to identify syndicators:

1. Requesting Agent Type
2. Referring URL
3. Unique ID ADR vs. Views Ratio

We verify a syndicator is adhering to the content creator's terms and conditions."

d] What are direct implications of ADR for marketers publishing RSS feeds and publishers publishing RSS feeds?

"For marketers, it is similar to open rates for email. For publishers, it is similar to unique user. Neither is perfect for various reasons. Ultimately, ADR helps marketers and advertisers measure the ROI of RSS and for publishers to sell premium CPMs."