Analytics agencies such as comScore and Nielsen use
consumer panels to collect disaggregated, individual-level data across devices on an ongoing
basis. Panels track users across the internet and capture information on a company’s website
as well as their competitors’ sites. If the panel size is statistically significant, these
services can provide a rich source of behavioural data on competitors.
However, due to the vast and fragmented nature of the internet, the number of
panellists who visit an average site is typically insignificant. This means that the
effective panel sample size for the analysis of most sites is far too small. As a result,
panels are a viable option only for large websites.
