The announcement on the Google Analytics blog More choice for users: browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics on the way is already creating a lot of hype. Questions are being asked about how wise it is a move for Google Analytics, with some even suggesting that it will bring about its downfall. The implication is that this is a gesture of good faith by Google based on the criticism they have received recently about their approach to privacy highlighted with the launch of Google Buzz.
Right now the analysis on the opt-out tool is a little thin and the sensationalism is rather, well thick. The main fear is that many users will install this tool when it becomes available and simply opt-out of stats and disappear off the tracking radar, and where this is potentially true, the idea that this will actually happen is pretty far-fetched. It also represents a kind of old-world thinking about Web Analytics that doesn’t stretch beyond unique visits, visits and pageviews.
As much as I resent seeing visits drop at any stage, Web Analytics is not about tracking the individual or simply monitoring the stats, it’s about identifying trends and actionable data, and developing strategies to act on that data. In fact a lot of the data you see in Analytics is based on a sample, this is most common when you access custom reports.
Huge number crunching is required to generate pivoted data, and in order to do so more rapidly Google will grab samples of data to represent a larger segment. This action doesn’t compromise tracking, in fact it expedites it allowing us to view our data from more angles more rapidly.
It’s also worth pointing out that Google isn’t the first to do this, similar tools exist for Coremetrics and Omniture’s SiteCatalyst. We also already have a segment of users who turn off cookies in their browsers, effectively disabling all cookie-based tracking. Complex calculations between log files and cookie trackers can give you a reasonable estimate on the size of this loss, and no doubt if you’re worried about the loss you’ll be researching that methodology right now.
So where this opt-out tool may cause us to loose a segment of users, which is never a good thing, we will probably not loose the insight Google gives us into user trends and segments.
The announcement on the Google Analytics blog More choice for users: browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics on the way is already creating a lot of hype. Questions are being asked about how wise it is a move for Google Analytics, with some even suggesting that it will bring about its downfall. The implication is that this is a gesture of good faith by Google based on the criticism they have received recently about their approach to privacy highlighted with the launch of Google Buzz.
Right now the analysis on the opt-out tool is a little thin and the sensationalism is rather, well thick. The main fear is that many users will install this tool when it becomes available and simply opt-out of stats and disappear off the tracking radar, and where this is potentially true, the idea that this will actually happen is pretty far-fetched. It also represents a kind of old-world thinking about Web Analytics that doesn’t stretch beyond unique visits, visits and pageviews.
As much as I resent seeing visits drop at any stage, Web Analytics is not about tracking the individual or simply monitoring the stats, it’s about identifying trends and actionable data, and developing strategies to act on that data. In fact a lot of the data you see in Analytics is based on a sample, this is most common when you access custom reports.
Huge number crunching is required to generate pivoted data, and in order to do so more rapidly Google will grab samples of data to represent a larger segment. This action doesn’t compromise tracking, in fact it expedites it allowing us to view our data from more angles more rapidly.
It’s also worth pointing out that Google isn’t the first to do this, similar tools exist for Coremetrics and Omniture’s SiteCatalyst. We also already have a segment of users who turn off cookies in their browsers, effectively disabling all cookie-based tracking. Complex calculations between log files and cookie trackers can give you a reasonable estimate on the size of this loss, and no doubt if you’re worried about the loss you’ll be researching that methodology right now.
So where this opt-out tool may cause us to loose a segment of users, which is never a good thing, we will probably not loose the insight Google gives us into user trends and segments.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
