Media Metrix taps Zone Labs for tracking technology

Media Metrix, a company that tracks the popularity of Web sites, will announce tomorrow that it has signed a technology licensing agreement with San Francisco-based Zone Labs to beef up its audience measurement systems.

"Zone's TrueVector technology will allow Media Metrix to more precisely monitor what computer users are doing and where they're going on the Net," Gregor Freund, president of Zone Labs, said in an interview.

Freund said he believes the technology will be used on a large panel of volunteers who have agreed to be tracked so that Media Metrix can develop a database of information such as the top 10 Web sites people visit.

"Using TrueVector technology provides us time-to-market advantages as we deliver new products and services that track the ever-changing patterns of Internet usage," George Ziegler, a Media Metrix executive, said in a statement.

Zone Labs is a privately held company founded two years ago by a team of software engineers. The company deals mostly with issues involving Internet security.

Media Metrix, which also has offices in San Francisco, tracks Internet use for advertisers, media companies, e-commerce marketers, financial services companies and technology companies.

In October, Media Metrix agreed to buy closely held AdRelevance for as much as $65.7 million in stock.

The purchase further expanded Media Metrix's tracking services. AdRelevance software, which combs more than 2,000 Web sites daily and 40 million Web pages monthly, tracks online ad spending, ad placement and other information.