Selection of web sites for online advertising using the AHP

This paper presents an application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) used to select the best web site for online advertising. This method adopts a multi-criteria approach that can be used for analysis and comparison of web sites for online advertising. The method is based on pairwise comparison between several factors that affect the selection of the best web site. Five criteria were used for evaluating sites: impression rate, monthly cost, audience fit, content quality, and "look and feel." For each, a matrix of pairwise comparisons between web sites was evaluated. Although our application was for only one specific company, there is nothing unique about the environment of the case study, and thus this approach could be generalised to any company. We believe the application shown could be of use to managers and, because of its ease of implementation, others could benefit from this approach. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.