April 10, 2001

RedSheriff Unveils New Zealand’s Internet Universe

Online Survey Response Nets an Unprecedented 60,000 NZ Web Surfers

Auckland, New Zealand. (March 25, 2003) – RedSheriff, a leading global Web Analytics company, today unveiled its new Market Intelligence capabilities and the results of a demographic survey of more than 60,000 New Zealand Internet users. In Auckland especially for the RedSheriff launch event, RedSheriff’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Webb, commented on the progress the New Zealand Internet industry had achieved since the company’s unique Web measurement methodology was established as the standard by the Online Publisher’s Group six months ago.

Having an accurate, third party measurement tool has been absolutely vital to allow the Internet Industry in New Zealand to grow and develop. We have learned from leading online publishers including XtraMSN, Stuff and IDG as well as online businesses like TradeMe and Seek, that they have been able to grow revenue and know their audiences better as a result,” said Mr. Webb. “In addition, we are very excited about the 60,000 responses to the Market Intelligence online surveys.   A sample size of that magnitude is unheard of in any market and gives invaluable insight to New Zealand Internet users.”

Key findings of the demographic survey include an increasing number of Kiwis accessing the Net from home rather than work, and overwhelmingly on a daily basis.  Kiwis are also going to the Net mostly for e-mail, followed by news and general information gathering.

RedSheriff’s Market Intelligence provides accurate measurement of Web site traffic to specific sites and across industries on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis. As an overview of measurement capabilities, RedSheriff posts weekly rankings of New Zealand’s most trafficked Web sites in RedSheriff’s “Most Wanted Top Ten.” Subscribers can also log into the RedSheriff site independently and run reports across a wide range of metrics to gain an in-depth view of their position in the market and traffic to their Web site.

Global Lead

New Zealand is the first country to establish an Internet measurement standard and the rest of the world is taking note.  Israel has recently adopted RedSheriff’s measurement technology and Ireland, through its own online publishing group, is currently exploring the applications. Other countries looking to establishing a similar RedSheriff standard include Japan, China, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, France, and Italy.

New Zealand Minister for Information Technology, Paul Swain, will be speaking at the RedSheriff Wellington event later this week on March 27th to address how the standard in New Zealand is setting a global example for Internet measurement and helping the New Zealand business community.

Levelling the Playing Field

Using the new standard, TradeMe Limited and Seek Communications have, for the first time, been able to establish and confirm their own growth figures in comparison with internal targets as well as with competitor numbers.

It’s been a real eye opener for us,” said Nigel Stanford, general manager, TradeMe. “Prior to the standard, we knew we were getting great traffic but couldn’t back it up. Having RedSheriff in the market has helped us track our growth and has provided the positioning proof we needed to firmly establish ourselves in the market.”

Business Growth

For publishers and advertisers, accurate traffic figures have also resulted in increased revenue. The measurement has finally allowed publishers and advertisers to work from the same traffic numbers to compare sites and demographics, tailoring their campaigns accordingly.

The range of metrics available allows agencies to get to what they most need; straight forward interpretation and decision making on what to do with all these numbers," said Lynne Clifton, executive director, Communications Agencies Association New Zealand (CAANZ). "Agencies will now be able to confidently offer Online as a viable and measurable media option in order to better serves clients with targeted campaigns which more effectively reach their customers."

About the Online Publishers Group

Formed in 2002, the Online Publishers Group includes is an industry group representing many of New Zealand's major Internet publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. Members include CAANZ, NZOOM, IDG, XtraMSN, Vodafone, The New Zealand Herald, Stuff.co.nz and the Internet Bureau.

About RedSheriff

Headquartered in New York with global office locations, RedSheriff is recognised as the largest provider of Web Analytics. Established in 1996, the company has a comprehensive suite of measurement and market research products and services, catering to over 1,000 clients in more than 38 countries. The unique tools and methodology used by RedSheriff clients enables companies to use accurate and objective business intelligence to make educated decisions in a constantly changing digital marketplace. RedSheriff boasts strategic partnerships with global industry leaders such as WPP, AGB Group, Taylor Nelson Sofres, Video Research, Ericsson, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Intel and Microsoft. For additional information about RedSheriff, visit www.redsheriff.com
For more information contact:

Tom Clancy

Account Manager, AUGUST.ONE Communications

E-mail: tom.clancy@augustone.co.nz

Tel: +64 9 913 7520

Mobile: +64 21 033 2946

Louisa Williams

Director, Global Marketing, RedSheriff

E-mail: louisa.williams@redsheriff.com

Tel: +61 3 9864 0736

Mobile: +61 419 304 608