Web analytics firm comScore has announced that its tagging service for Media Metrix 360 is now free for website publishers. Registration for the measurement platform is open immediately to U.S. websites and the free program will launch globally later this summer, comScore said in the announcement.
This means that publishers may now add a comScore tag to their sites and be included in the firm's page-view measurement metrics without having to pay the previous $5,000 set-up fee. The announcement is understandably creating excitement throughout the industry, but the news gets even better for new Web businesses. Under its new Start-Up, Step-Up program, comScore is granting the following unprecedented privileges to start-ups:
- Any website can tag for free
- Sites with less than 1 million monthly unique visitors get free access to comScore's basic reporting metrics
- Sites that want to maintain that access after they've grown past 1 million can subscribe for $799 per month
- Sites can keep their free tags and decline the basic reporting metrics after they've passed the 1 million monthly unique visitors mark
- Sites with between 1 million and 2 million monthly unique visitors can purchase a full Media Metrix single-category subscription at a 50-percent reduced rate
Website owners can e-mail directbeta@comscore.com to receive a registration code for participation, and they can register at https://beta.comscoredirect.com.