http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/index.asp?tab=1 Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index - Latest News http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=10 Michigan-based Spartan Internet Consulting Corporation today released the SIPP Index results for the presidential candidates' Internet performances for the week of December 27th – January 2nd. The SIPP Index represents the most comprehensive indicator to measure online support for candidates. “The SIPP Index results this week provide a glimpse into the grass root support base for each of the candidates heading into the Iowa Caucuses. Those who can organize and activate their support online show a strong potential to organize and get out the vote” said Ryan Vartoogian President of Spartan Internet Consulting.Currently maintaining the top three positions are Barack Obama (19.69 percent), Ron Paul (17.19 percent), and Hillary Clinton (10.50 percent). The largest decliner this week was Hillary Clinton, down 1.00 percent. The largest gainers included John Mccain, up 0.77 percent, and Mike Huckabee, up 0.55 percent. For full results, see below.The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index is the first quantitative measure of the Internet-wide performance of each presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The index gauges the level of support and how well each candidate is connecting with individuals across the Internet.Spartan Internet has leveraged its web expertise to objectively develop the SIPP Index of 650 quantitative factors across the Internet such as social network outreach, website traffic, blog presence, and search engine utilization into a single representative score for each of the 2008 presidential candidate's overall Internet market share.The results of the SIPP Index are published weekly each Thursday at:http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/This week's (December 27 - January 2) complete results are as follows:CandidateScoreChangeBarack Obama19.69%-0.40%Ron Paul17.19%0.18%Hillary Clinton10.50%-1.00%John Edwards7.70%0.15%Mitt Romney7.08%0.04%John Mccain5.61%0.77%Rudy Giuliani5.01%0.43%Mike Huckabee4.84%0.55%Dennis Kucinich4.75%0.02%Fred Thompson4.14%0.50%Joe Biden3.05%0.09%Bill Richardson2.78%-0.06%Mike Gravel2.54%0.01%Chris Dodd2.42%0.08%Duncan Hunter1.55%-0.07%Alan Keyes1.16%-0.15%  http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=9 Spartan Internet Consulting Corp. of Lansing, MI has been tracking the Internet performance of candidates in the 2008 Presidential election through a new model of online analysis: the Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index. The SIPP Index utilizes over 650 factors to gauge the effectiveness of each candidate’s ability to connect and engage online users. “Unlike past elections, when individuals communicated very passively online, this election shows a wealth of active engagement through social networking sites,” said Ryan Vartoogian, President of Spartan Internet Consulting. “Based on our analysis, we see continuing upward trends. The most telling story will be the impact of these new forms of campaigning on actual voting results.” Some notable findings from July 12th to October 11th (3 months in review):• Over 1 million supporters between Facebook and MySpace• Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Ron Paul added an average of 500 supporters per day across social network sites• YouTube views of officially posted videos climbed over 23 million• Mitt Romney has over 100,000 links to his homepage• Obama has surpassed 11 million YouTube views• Over 260 scheduled “meetups” organized gatherings through Meetup.com• Search volumes seeking specific candidates exceeded 1 million per month• Giuliani’s online news coverage through major news sources increased by 168%• Paul has increased Facebook and MySpace support 150%• 2,500 dedicated blogs created to follow the candidates • Edwards has nearly 4,000 photos on Flickr following his campaign trail• 100,000 individuals participating in over 290 events through Eventful.com For more results visit http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/“The past 3 months show varying sophistication in candidate success in engaging with people online,” says Vartoogian.  “Many candidates’ official campaign sites were not well positioned for key search terms and in some cases don’t show up under their own name.” Spartan Internet began gathering data in June and started releasing weekly composite scores reflecting each candidate’s online market share starting on July 12, 2007. Each of the 650 factors is assigned a specific weight, based on how far reaching and reliable the source data is. For example, a user who posts an image on a highly trafficked networking site or writes a blog that receives a large number of comments is weighted higher than less engaged means like a Google search.Media Contact: Ryan VartoogianPhone: 517-333-9727 http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=8 Michigan-based Spartan Internet Consulting Corporation today released the SIPP Index results for the presidential candidates' Internet performances for the week of August 30 - September 5. Currently maintaining the top three positions are Barack Obama, 20.65 percent, Hillary Clinton, 11.71 percent and Ron Paul with 11.36 percent. The largest decliner this week was Rudy Giuliani, down 0.60 percent. The largest gainers included Chris Dodd up 0.28 percent, John McCain up 0.30 percent and Fred Thompson up 0.22 percent. For full results, see below. The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index is the first quantitative measure of the Internet-wide performance of each presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The index gauges the level of support and how well each candidate is connecting with individuals across the Internet. Spartan Internet has leveraged its web expertise to objectively develop the SIPP Index of 650 quantitative factors across the Internet such as social network outreach, website traffic, blog presence and search engine utilization into a single representative score for each of the 2008 presidetial candidate's overall Internet market share. The results of the SIPP Index are published weekly each Thursday at: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/ This week's (August 30 - September 5) complete results are as follows: CandidateTotalChangeRudy Giuliani3.03%-0.60%Mitt Romney8.83%-0.32%Ron Paul11.36%-0.21%Joe Biden2.88%-0.21%Dennis Kucinich5.90%-0.10%Barack Obama20.65%-0.10%John Edwards10.55%-0.06%Sam Brownback1.97%-0.02%Tom Tancredo1.38%+0.04%Mike Huckabee2.33%+0.08%Mike Gravel2.98%+0.10%Hillary Clinton11.71%+0.11%Duncan Hunter1.94%+0.13%Bill Richardson3.65%+0.15%Fred Thompson2.59%+0.22%John Mccain5.63%+0.30%Chris Dodd2.61%+0.48%About Spartan Internet:Spartan Internet Consulting is a leading Internet marketing consulting firm that provides strategic Internet planning and implementation services to global clients. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Spartan Internet has offices in Detroit, Fort Lauderdale and Washington D.C. ### Company: Spartan Internet Consulting Corp. Contact: Ryan Vartoogian / PresidentPhone: 517-410-3997Web Site: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/ http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=7 Michigan-based Spartan Internet Consulting Corporation today released the SIPP Index results for the presidential candidates' Internet performances for the week of August 23-29. Currently maintaining the top three positions are Barack Obama, 20.75 percent, Hillary Clinton, 11.60 percent and Ron Paul with 11.58 percent. The largest gainer this week was Rudy Giuliani, up 0.42 percent, and the largest decliner was Barack Obama, down 0.54 percent. For full results, see below. The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index is the first quantitative measure of the Internet-wide performance of each Presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The index gauges the level of support and how well each candidate is connecting with individuals across the Internet. Spartan Internet has leveraged its web expertise to objectively develop the SIPP Index of 650 quantitative factors across the Internet such as social network outreach, website traffic, blog presence and search engine utilization into a single representative score for each candidate's overall Internet market share. The results of the SIPP Index are published weekly each Thursday at: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/ This week's (August 23-29) complete results are as follows: CandidateTotalWeek ChangeBarack Obama20.75%-0.54%Mitt Romney9.16%-0.32%Chris Dodd2.12%-0.21%John Edwards10.61%-0.12%Sam Brownback1.98%-0.08%John Mccain5.33%-0.06%Tom Tancredo1.33%-0.04%Bill Richardson3.51%-0.03%Tommy Thompson0.00%+0.00%Duncan Hunter1.81%+0.02%Fred Thompson2.37%+0.02%Ron Paul11.58%+0.06%Dennis Kucinich6.00%+0.08%Mike Huckabee2.25%+0.11%Joe Biden3.09%+0.13%Hillary Clinton11.60%+0.24%Mike Gravel2.89%+0.32%Rudy Giuliani3.64%+0.42%About Spartan Internet:Spartan Internet Consulting is a leading Internet marketing consulting firm that provides strategic Internet planning and implementation services to global clients. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Spartan Internet has offices in Detroit, Fort Lauderdale and Washington D.C. ### Company: Spartan Internet Consulting Corp. Contact: Ryan Vartoogian / PresidentPhone: 517-410-3997Web Site: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/ http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=6 Michigan-based Spartan Internet Consulting Corporation today released the SIPP Index results for the presidential candidates’ Internet performances for the week of August 16th-22nd. Currently maintaining the top three positions are Barack Obama 21.29 percent, Ron Paul 11.51 percent and Hillary Clinton 11.36 percent.  The largest gainer this week was John Edwards up 0.43 percent, and the largest decliner was Rudy Giuliani down 0.57 percent.  For full results, see below.The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index is the first quantitative metric to measure the Internet-wide performance of each Presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The index gauges the level of support and how well each candidate is connecting with individuals across the Internet. Spartan Internet has leveraged its web expertise to objectively develop the SIPP Index to quantify 650 relevant factors such as social network outreach, website traffic, blog presence, and search engine utilization into a single representative score for each candidate’s overall Internet market share. The results of the SIPP Index are published weekly at:  http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008 This week’s (August 16th-22nd) complete results are as follows:CandidateTotalWeek ChangeRudy Giuliani3.21%-0.57%Barack Obama21.29%-0.45%John Mccain5.39%-0.23%Duncan Hunter1.79%-0.16%Mitt Romney9.48%-0.12%Joe Biden2.96%-0.11%Mike Gravel2.56%-0.08%Fred Thompson2.35%-0.01%Tom Tancredo1.38%+0.03%Hillary Clinton11.36%+0.05%Sam Brownback2.06%+0.11%Bill Richardson3.53%+0.11%Ron Paul11.51%+0.16%Mike Huckabee2.13%+0.18%Chris Dodd2.33%+0.29%Dennis Kucinich5.92%+0.37%John Edwards10.73%+0.43% About Spartan Internet:Spartan Internet Consulting is a leading Internet strategy consulting firm that provides strategic Internet planning and implementation services to global clients. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Spartan Internet has offices in Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Washington D.C.### Company: Spartan Internet Consulting Corp. Contact: Ryan Vartoogian / PresidentPhone: 517-410-3997Web Site: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/ http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/news.asp?tab=1&id=4 Michigan-based Spartan Internet Consulting Corporation is releasing the first-ever Internet-wide political performance index for the 2008 Presidential election, its president announced today. The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index utilizes 650 quantitative factors focused on accurately determining the level of interest a candidate is generating across the Internet.  Each of the factors is derived from numeric values across the Internet such as social network outreach, Web site traffic, blog presence and search engine utilization. The resulting score is indicative of each candidate’s overall ability to reach individuals online and connect on key issues. “This can be compared to counting the number of digital yard signs and bumper stickers posted for each candidate on the Web,” said Ryan Vartoogian, President of Spartan Internet Consulting.The Index was developed in response to the growing importance of the Internet in the political process. According to a July study from iCrossing.com, 42 percent of voters will look to the Internet for information on the 2008 presidential candidates. Prior to the SIPP Index, there was no metric to determine the overall impact the Internet had on a candidate’s campaign. “In the 2008 presidential election and beyond, the Internet will play a dramatic role in shaping the decision support mechanism for voters,” said Vartoogian.Spartan Internet leveraged its Web expertise to objectively develop the index to quantify 650 relevant factors into a single representative score for each candidate’s overall Internet market share. They began the data collection process at the beginning of July 2007. Weekly updates are published every Thursday online, with charts comparing the relative position of each candidate.The results of the SIPP Index are published weekly at http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008About Spartan Internet:Spartan Internet Consulting is a leading Internet strategy consulting firm that provides strategic Internet planning and implementation services to global clients. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Spartan Internet has offices in Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, and Washington D.C.####Company: Spartan Internet Consulting Corp. Contact: Ryan Vartoogian / PresidentPhone: 517-410-3997Web Site: http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/