According to a new report from comScore, about 31 percent of U.S. Internet users cleared their cookies during the month. This figure, if correct, could lead to site visitor counts to be off by as much as 150%.

While comScore probably can’t be considered an unbiased source – they offer a browser-based approach to tracking user behavior – it’s clear that random cookies are becoming less and less useful as a tool for identifying unique users.

“There is a common perception that third-party cookie deletion rates should be significantly higher than first-party cookie deletion rates,” said comScore CEO Dr. Magid Abraham. These findings suggest that selective cookie management is not prevalent, a fact that comScore confirmed via a survey, with only 4 percent of Internet users indicating that they delete third-party but not first-party cookies.”

Some will use comScore’s numbers as a reason to slam Web analytics, or as justification for arguring that Web ad prices are inflated. comScore’s numbers aren’t entirely surprising, though, and serve as a reminder to make sure you’re measuring the right things. An example of this is Google’s AdSense, which tracks views, but charges you based on click-through actions.

The Lewin Group’s Elisabeth McLaury Lewin recently talked with the Denver Post’s Steven Rosen about the trend among art museums – and fans of fine art – to produce art podcasts, or artcasts:

“It’s neat to see museums – even low-budget museums – do high-tech things,” said Elisabeth McLaury Lewin, publisher of PodcastingNews.com. “And it may drive new participation in the fine arts as the traditional audience is aging and dying.”

“It seems in the near future people will have an opportunity to interact with a podcast, just like people can interact with blogs,” said Lewin, of PodcastingNews.com. “And podcasters don’t necessarily have to bow to a curator’s view. They can be irreverent.”

The article appeared in the July, 4, 2006 Denver Post.

While we were at South by Southwest (a new media conference) this year, we had a chance to talk to Dan Fost of the San Franscisco Gate.

Apparently, Fost doesn’t completely buy the whole Web 2.0 meme:

I sure drank a lot of Kool-Aid 2.0 at South by Southwest last week. I don’t know what was in the stuff, but I’m catching some of the excitement that’s coursing through the Internet again.

The whole Web 2.0 thing, though, is asking for ridicule. Even most of the companies that fit in the Web 2.0 category aren’t crazy about the phrase (perhaps because it invites the moniker Bubble 2.0). But at least it’s a handy rubric.

It makes me realize how tribal the chatter is at these tech conferences. Linguists would probably love them, if they could understand them.

James Lewin, who runs Web publications on podcasting and other topics with his wife, Elisabeth, in Des Moines, Iowa, heard enough of the blather at South by Southwest to string together a typically meaningless pitch: “We’re monetizing the long tail globally and impactfully in the Web 2.0 space with tags.”

To come up with your own pitch, try this Web site from blogger Andrew Wooldridge and you’ll be streaming RSS-based widgets via Shockwave in no time.

For the record, we are monitizing the long tail globally and impactfully in the Web 2.0 space, with tags.

via SFGate

The Lewin Group’s Elisabeth Lewin is featured in an excellent article by Rachel Sokol at TechWeb about trends in online content.

“If you can’t find a show you like, you can, fairly easily, create your own show,” said Elisabeth Lewin, publisher of PodcastingNews.com, which offers tutorials on how to use services like Blogger or Feedburner to create and host podcasts. Sites like iPodder.org and iTunes.com are podcast clients that allow users to subscribe to every version of a specific podcast. Via these clients, each production of a show is automatically downloaded to a users’ hard drive or media player.

Lewin believes podcasting will keep growing until broadcasters look at podcasting first and radio as an afterthought. “Podcasts can make money from Internet distribution in addition to radio distribution,” she said.

The Lewin Group’s Elisabeth Lewin was featured for an article for Wired:

Why a recap and no full show? While audio-only versions of sitcoms and soaps might appeal to hard-core fans, networks aren’t free to repurpose everything wholesale, thanks to copyright issues. In many cases, the music on TV shows is cleared for a few broadcasts, but not to sit forever on someone’s hard drive or iPod, said Elisabeth Lewin, publisher of Podcasting News.

“The very nature of a podcast means … you can recopy it and share it freely,” Lewin said. “The people who hold the rights aren’t really going to be wild about the idea.”

Both James and Elisabeth Lewin participated in a discussion on the future of media (mp3) at the 2005 Gnomedex conference in Seattle.Rob Greenlee of WebTalk Radio led the discussion with Mitch Ratcliffe, Gnomedex organizer Chris Pirillo, Ratcliffe, Todd Cochrane of GeekNewsCentral, Andy McCaskey of SlahDotReview, John Wall of TheMShow and Rob Walch of podCast411.

The Lewin Group’s Elisabeth Lewin was interviewed recently about the “godcasting” trend for an article in Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinal.

Elisabeth Lewin, 40, who operates Podcastingnews.com from an 1886 house with a view of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, ranks religion/spiritualty among the five most popular topics in podcasting.

“It’s like a sleeper hit,” Lewin said. “People are hungry for connection.”