| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Andromedia's Survey Reinforces the Need for Real-Time Web Tracking and Industry Standards. SAN FRANCISCO, October 14, 1996 ù Thousands of websites are up and running, but many companies do not think that they have a good handle on their websiteÆs traffic patterns or whether their sites are effectively reaching their target markets. Three-day old reports on the status of their websites are no longer helpful; companies want on-demand or real-time statistics instead. ThatÆs according to a survey that Andromedia conducted at the "Performance Measurement for Websites" conference in San Francisco the week of October 2, 1996. Over 25 percent of the attendees participated in the survey, and the majority of the respondents detailed the need for real-time tracking systems to enable the serving of dynamic content and advertisements. Specifically, 64 percent of the respondents indicated that they do not have a good handle on their website traffic patterns. Almost 40 percent believe that on-demand or real-time statistics of their website traffic is very important. Furthermore, 68 percent said they plan on creating dynamic content or rotating ads based on user profile information. "It is clear that the next wave of website development will focus on the generation of personalized content and advertisements to effectively reach target markets. Only on-demand website tracking systems will deliver these critical capabilities because of their ability to handle a large number of requests at high speeds," said Kent Godfrey, president and CEO of Andromedia. Another interesting finding: respondents view the number of hits as the least important information they want tracked, even though the industry currently uses that data to assess the success of a website. Attendees ranked visitor demographics as the most important data to track, followed by navigation patterns, length of visits and number of hits. To ensure consistency in tracking, the majority of repondents (80 percent) called for the need for industry standards for measurement criteria. "Companies are making significant investments in their online presence. In order to gauge an accurate return on this investment, industry standards must be established," said Godfrey. "Our research shows that just setting up a commerce website costs about $1 million," said Ted Julian, Internet research manager at IDC. "In order to fully leverage this significant investment, companies need sophisticated yet easy to use tracking tools that can tell them not only about the volume of traffic their Internet presence is receiving, but also provide detailed information about the individuals that make up that traffic." Other data compiled from the survey includes: · 93% of the respondents marked "marketing products and services" as one of the purposes or goals of their website presence. Customer support (54%) and internal applications, such as an intranet (36%), rounded out the top three. · The most popular platforms that respondents are currently using are Windows NT and Sun Solaris (25% each); however, half projected Windows NT as its future platform of choice. · Netscape Commerce led as the current and future server of choice with 25% and 29% of the respondents, respectively. Andromedia, Inc. was founded in May of 1995 and incorporated in December 1995. In April 1996, the company announced its initial round of equity financing. Investments from SOFTBANK, Draper Richards, LP and Platinum Ventures were acquired. In December 1996, Andromedia started shipping the ARIA Recorder Reporter TM, the only completely integrated, Web-based Web site tracking application that enables Webmasters and IS professionals to graphically view a live snapshot of their Web site activity at any point in time. ARIA provides quantification and qualification to companies and users who are attempting to measure the success of their Web presence. Privately-held Andromedia is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Contacts:
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