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Web traffic and organization performance measures: Relationships and data sources examined

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  • Vaughan, Liwen
  • Yang, Rongbin

Abstract

Unlike Web hyperlink data, Web traffic data have not yet been the focus of considerable study in Webometrics research. The relationships between Web traffic data and academic/business performance measures have not been as firmly established as the relationships between Web hyperlink data and such performance measures. Although various traffic data sources exist, few studies have examined and compared their relative merits. We carried out a study that aimed to address this lack. We selected groups of universities and businesses from the U.S. and China and collected their Web traffic data from three sources: Alexa Internet, Google Trends for Websites, and Compete. We found significant correlations between Web traffic data and organizational performance measures, specifically academic quality for universities and financial variables for businesses. We also examined the characteristics of the three data sources and compared their usefulness. We found that Alexa Internet outperformed the others.

Suggested Citation

  • Vaughan, Liwen & Yang, Rongbin, 2013. "Web traffic and organization performance measures: Relationships and data sources examined," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 699-711.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:7:y:2013:i:3:p:699-711
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2013.04.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Liwen Vaughan & Rongbin Yang, 2012. "Web data as academic and business quality estimates: A comparison of three data sources," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(10), pages 1960-1972, October.
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    2. Evangelos Mourelatos & Manolis Tzagarakis, 2018. "An investigation of factors affecting the visits of online crowdsourcing and labor platforms," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 95-130, December.
    3. Jun, Seung-Pyo & Sung, Tae-Eung & Park, Hyun-Woo, 2017. "Forecasting by analogy using the web search traffic," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 37-51.
    4. Amelia Sharman, 2013. "Mapping the climate sceptical blogosphere," GRI Working Papers 124, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    5. A. Fronzetti Colladon & R. Vestrelli & S. Bait & M. M. Schiraldi, 2024. "A Big Data Approach to Understand Sub-national Determinants of FDI in Africa," Papers 2403.10239, arXiv.org.
    6. Jun, Seung-Pyo & Yoo, Hyoung Sun & Choi, San, 2018. "Ten years of research change using Google Trends: From the perspective of big data utilizations and applications," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 69-87.

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