7.12 Abnormal Spikes in Usage

What is regarded as an abnormal spike in usage can vary from one report provider and report consumer to another and there are many occasions on which exceptionally high usage in a month is genuine, so COUNTER does not have a strict protocol for dealing with usage spikes. The following approaches will provide an indication of possible abnormal usage or another unusual event. These should only be as a prompt for human intervention to take a closer look at the numbers, rather than any automated cut-off of access.

7.12.1 Positive Spikes in Usage

Reported usage may be considered as a positive spike if, in a specific month, the reported usage by a report consumer is at least one hundred units of measurement greater than thrice the previous twelve-month average.

7.12.2 Negative Spikes in Usage

Reported usage may be considered as a negative spike if, in a specific month, the reported usage by a report consumer is less than 1% of the previous twelve-month average, where the average usage of that product in the previous 12 months is at least twenty units of measurement.