Chapter 3.2 Website Metrics{0}

Website metrics allow decision makers the ability to gauge the effectiveness of their website. Metrics allow for the analysis of actions taken by visitors while they visit a website.

Metrics include:

  • Visitor Metrics – Identified and Unidentified Visitors, Unique Visitors, Session Visitors and Tracked Visitors
  • Exposure Metrics - Page Views, Site Sessions
  • Visit Metrics – Stickiness, Raw Visit Depth, Visit Depth

There are many popular website metric applications available, some are free and others either have a monthly cost or an upfront fee. Popular site metric applications include:

Google Analytics is one of the most popular online site metrics applications. It boasts a wide variety of graphical features to make sense of site metric data to the average user. Google Analytics displays line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, maps and many other features.

Take a Tour Here: Google Analytics Overview

Although Google Analytics has many great features, some might argue the risks outweigh the benefits. In particular, users are worried about their privacy and user data being tracked and used by google without their consent. A recent article stated:

Google knows more about you than the NSA, and has recently shown that it doesn’t give a hoot about your privacy. The company has gotten too big, and has turned into just another corporation trying to maximize its assets–and those assets are you. Who’s to say Google won’t progressively loosen its privacy controls and monetize more and more personal information?

I’m ditching Google as much as I can, and when a competitor develops a search engine as good as Google, I’ll stop searching with Google, too. The trend that Google has been following has been looking darker and darker as the company nibbles away at the limits of privacy. This is no longer a company I trust.

Kirk McElhearn from MacWorld- Why, I’m Dropping Google

The EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) announced a settlement in a lawsuit targeted at google for sharing private data without users consent via their “Buzz” application:

Google has entered into a settlement agreement in a class action suit concerning the social network service Buzz. With Buzz, Google made private email contacts of Gmail susbcribers publicly available without consent. Gmail users filed a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs alleged violations of federal privacy and consumer fraud laws. As part of the settlement agreement, Google will establish an $8.5 million settlement fund to pay the attorneys, compensate the lead plaintiffs, and establish a cy pres fund for “existing organizations focused on Internet privacy policy or privacy education.” Earlier this year, EPIC raised similar concerns about Google Buzz in a formal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.

A Healthy Alternative: Piwik

Piwik is the best alternative, because its free, runs in PHP / MySQL, and is distributed under a GPL license. Piwik also boasts many of the same features Google Analytics has, without the worry of google misusing your user data.

Presentation: http://www.guavacreative.com/is/

Works Cited:

McElhearn, Kirk, MacWorld (2010). Why I’m Dropping Google. Retrieved 2010 from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189813/why_im_dropping_google.html

Electronic Public Information Center (2010). Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit,  Allocates Funds for Internet Privacy Groups. Retrieved 2010 from http://epic.org/2010/09/temp.html

Baltzan & Phillips, Business Driven Information Systems, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2009.

By tylerpenney Category: E-Business