comScore is adding a new metric, "visits" - which the measurement firm defines as the number of distinct times people visit a site per day, with at least 30 minutes between each visit - could potentially replace the pageview as a key advertiser metric, reports ClickZ.
Whereas pageviews generate a raw number of how many pages on the site were hit in a given period, visits point to a user's engagement with the site. Tracking visits, comScore says, will give a picture of how many times the same person comes back, indicating the level of loyalty toward the site.

Another driving force behind a new metric is that non-HTML web-authoring technologies such as Flash and AJAX do not create pages per se; therefore, pageviews don't, as a practical matter, exist and so aren't recorded - even though a user may be interacting with the site. Developers use these technologies because they build slicker and more user-friendly sites.

One problem for advertisers is that visits, unlike pageviews, don't correspond to ad impressions. But coupling visits with a site's reach and the length of each stay offers a fuller picture of the site's audience - a point raised by Yahoo Chief of Insights Peter Daboll.

Still, publishers whose rankings slip and advertisers who like the pageview model would likely mount some pushback to a move to a visit-driven world.