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COVER STORY
whwytriright 34 Google Analytics
Expanded Mobile
computer-savvy individuals can
Reporting:
block or delete cookies from their
GA now tracks mobile websites systems, again with the result of
and mobile applications, to allow being untracked.
One of Google
companies to bett er measure their Though the numbers of
mobile marketing eff orts. GA can Analytic’s main individuals going untracked due
track traffi c to a mobile website to the above are believed to be
att ractions is
from all web-enabled devices. statistically small, such data is
iPhone and Android mobile appli- its cost: free. by its very nature difficult to
cation developers can now also accurately capture.
track how users engage with apps, Another issue is the always-
just as with tracking engagement present-on-the-web concerns
on a website. For apps on Android devices, usage can be tied about security and privacy. Th rough its use of cookies and
back to ad campaigns: from ad to marketplace to download other data collection devices, Google itself has regularly come
to engagement. under fi re for storing (and the potential misuse of) millions
of pieces of data related to individuals. And with that 85-plus
Multiple Custom Variables:
percentage of the web analytics market, GA is responsible
Th is feature allows the GA user to customize Google Ana- for a signifi cant amount of that data collection.
lytics and collect the unique site usage data most important Even if individual users do not employ Google as their
to their business. Th e upgrade allows easier classifi cation of, search engine, chances are high that many of the sites they
according to Dai Pham of the Google Analytics Team, “any visit are Google-enabled in one form or another (including
number of interactions and behaviors on your site.” GA). For its part, Google maintains that it stores personal
information for 18 months, aft er which it is removed.
Analytics Intelligence:
Most observers recommend that companies using GA
Designed to provide automatic alerts of signifi cant changes maintain transparency with their visitors about what visitor
in the data patt erns of a site’s metrics and dimensions over data is being collected and how it is used; such information is
daily, weekly and monthly periods, eliminating the need for usually placed on a “Privacy Policy” page. (For a particularly
companies to do the monitoring themselves. “Now you can detailed—and potentially alarming—example, see Google’s
spend your time actually taking action, instead of trying to own Privacy Policy at htt p://www.google.com/intl/en/pri-
fi gure out what needs to be done,” per Pham. vacypolicy.html.)
Custom Alerts:
The Bottom Line
Similarly, this allows the GA user to customize daily, weekly
If one can overcome such concerns, the potential benefi ts of
and monthly triggers on diff erent visitor data parameters and
using GA are plentiful. One of its main att ractions is its cost:
be notifi ed by email or right in the user interface when the
free. Th e current version, along with an installation guide,
changes actually occur.
can be found at htt p://www.google.com/support/analytics/
bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66983. While Google itself
Additional Considerations maintains that correctly installing and using GA is simple,
Google’s ongoing quest for world domination isn’t quite there are a number of third-party agencies doing an appar-
complete yet, however. Several ad fi ltering programs and ently brisk business in helping business owners learn the ins
extensions, including Adblock and NoScript, can block the and outs of the tool.
GATC, allowing some users to go untracked and, thus,
not being contained within the GA reports. In addition,
Find this story and more news and information at: www.wholesalecentral.com/wholesale–news
36 February 2010
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