PLIWatch.org announces October/November 2006 metrics

December 1, 2006 - Alton, Illinois

Payday Loan Industry Watch (www.pliwatch.org) announced today its third set of metrics, which cover the period of October 1st to November 30th, 2006.

Managing Partner Robert James: "The numbers are steadily growing as our name gets out there and more people pick us up as a resource--visitors are finding value in what PLIWatch is offering."

Managing Editor William Stotler: "Overall, our predictions were in line with what we found when we analyzed the site's data. Except traffic, which exceeded our predictions. One interesting traffic surprise was the demand for our last two podcasts, which blew the top out of our podcasting predictions. We're attributing that to the podcasting research sabbatical we took in October and November--and the length of time those two podcasts were featured on the homepage. Of note, this cycle's statistics also contain 'deep browsing' numbers. 'Deep browsing' behavior is associated with people doing detailed research about payday lending activity in their home state--or researching an issue or a company."

Current Metrics

PLIWatch's metrics for October and November 2006 are:

• On average, 2,040 unique visits per month. (+477)
• On average, 2.84 pageviews per unique visit. (-0.07)
  • Very Deep Browsing - 7 viewed 20+ pages
  • Deep Browsing - 45 viewed 10 to 19 pages
• On average, 78% (no change) of all unique visits are from new visitors.
• On average, 22% (no change) of all unique visits are from returning visitors.
• On average, returning visitors revisit every 6 (+1) days.
• For 10 podcasts, between 172 and 399 (+11/+154) listeners per podcast.
• Considered in aggregate, the Site Audience is estimated to fall into the following segments:
  • 43% (-3%) - General Public (Includes loan seekers and activists [79%], and non-industry businesses, such as law firms and news organizations [21%])
  • 27% (+1%) - Payday Loan Industry Operators, Management, and Other Staff
  • 20% (+2%) - Payday Loan Industry Affiliates (marketers, advertisers, and service firms)
  •  7% (+1%) - Organizations (government, community, other institutions)
  •  4% (no change) - Unclassifiable (cannot determine segment)

Forward-Looking Metrics

Based on current trends, PLIWatch predicts the following metrics for February 1st:

• Unique visits will increase to between 2150 and 2550 per month.
• Average pageviews per unique visitor will remain steady at about 3.
• Of total unique visits, new visitors will account for between 77% and 79% of the total.
• Of total unique visits, return visitors will account for between 21% and 23% of the total.
• The returning visitor revisiting rate is expected to increase to an average of 7 days between visits.
• Podcast listener share on an average per-podcast basis will remain at historical levels of between 172 and 265 podcast listeners per podcast.
• Shifts in site visitor demographics are unpredictable based on three sets of historical data so we decline to speculate.

Metric Analysis Methods and Accuracy

(1) All current metrics dealing with unique visits, pageviews, new/returning visitors, and podcast usage are quantitative unique visitor and unique visit metrics. The numbers are based on clean server log data. I.e., Prior to calculations "noisy" non-visitor traffic sources (such as spiders and remote XML pulls) were removed from the data set.

(2) All forward-looking metrics are based on Microsoft Excel trendlines with R-squared values of no less than 0.950 (considered "very accurate"). Polynomial or logarithmic regression trend types were used, as appropriate to the data set.

(3) All Site Audience statistics were compiled by cross-checking visitor Source, Referrer, Keyword Phrase (as applicable), and Pages Viewed to determine from browsing habits the interest of the visitor--and thereby the segment into which the visitor should be placed. Hence, the percentages shown are qualitative. However, the percentages and spreads can be considered reasonably accurate, with no more than a 4% margin of error shared between the top three percentage figures, with a skew away from "General Public" and into the "Payday Loan Industry" segments.

Visitor Privacy Compliance Statement

This announcement displays only aggregate data and complies with our Privacy Policy.

Press Release Source

William Stotler, Managing Editor, PLIWatch
314.255.2242 / PLIWatch.org / 194 Sering Avenue / Alton, IL 62002 USA

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