Publishers are keen to show their reach and impact, but the differences behind the various “engagement” metrics used today are deep. Some focus on Facebook activity, for instance, while others use multiple indicators to measure the time and attention spent on individual articles.

The article notes that Facebook is estimated to have surpassed Google as a source of referral traffic for news publishers. This underlines the importance of including social media activity measurements in the overall “engagement” metrics – further complicating an already complex picture.

Online metrics standardisation clearly requires the publishing industry to work closely together, but one major impetus behind it might be the drive to measure advertising campaigns more accurately.