Hitwise, a New York-based online audience measurement company, yesterday announced it will begin to measure Internet usage in Canada in order to help marketers better understand the specifics of the Canadian market. Hitwise, which has search engine clients like Google and Ask.com, as well as retailers Gap and Best Buy, will report on 85,000 of Canada’s high-traffic websites across more than 160 industry categories. Measurements will be based on the web activity of a sample of 100,000 Canadian Internet users from all provinces and territories, provided by ISPs and opt-in panels.
The Canadian Hitwise service will also provide clients with data on traffic rankings, search terms, clickstream and demographic segmentation.
Hitwise currently operates in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. Canada’s proximity to the US market as well as a request for measurement of it from some of its clients made it a natural new expansion says Matt Tatham, director of media relations at Hitwise, adding that Hitwise’s major competitor in Canada is ComScore. Hitwise has offices in San Francisco and London, but for now will not be opening one in Canada.
