Week Two: Google Analytics

During class this week, the primary focus of the lecture was on web analytics. Analytics programs aim to optimize the performance of your website, by providing statistical data regarding the traffic and content on your site. While web analytics programs have typically only been available at a very high cost, Google has now introduced a free version called Google Analytics, which has opened up this innovative new technology to a wealth of new users. While the concept of analytics itself may seem daunting, Google has created a very simple program, which presents statistical data in a manner easily understood by the average person.

There are many different ways in which Google Analytics can help to optimize your site. It can measure how many visitors you have had on your site, where they came from, what pages they looked at, where they left, average time on a particular page, site referrals, and provides great insight into search engine optimization. As you can see, the amount of information that is compiled is enormous. Marketers now have the unique opportunity to gauge how customers act, and react to their experience on the site. For example, if there is a sharp increase in the amount of users dropping off your site on a particular page, you may need to look into site redesign to improve usability.

So with all the hype surrounding Google Analytics, the question remains, does it really work? In this case, the old adage “knowledge is power” seems to ring true. There have been many cases where companies have been able to effectively analyze the data provided, and implement positive changes in their web business. One of the keys to success is analyzing the data over a period of time, which allows the user to spot different trends. For example, there may be spikes in sales during certain times of the year. The user could then try to determine what is causing this increase in purchasing; as it could be related to a particular promotional campaign, or could correspond to an upcoming holiday. While the analytics program is able to provide a vast amount of data, it is still up to the user to interpret this information and implement it in a way that will allow the website to run more efficiently.

It seems the only drawback to Google Analytics is the issue of information privacy. In order to install the program on your site, it must scan the site in its entirety. Therefore, all of the information on your site is now in the hands of Google. One must assume that if they can market a program to millions that can analyze data, they must have a far more powerful version which could do the same with our website content. Not surprisingly, Google has not been overly forthcoming regarding what they do with our personal information. It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions from providing Google with such unlimited access to all of our personal and business data.

While privacy issues are a concern, they do not seem to be hindering the popularity of Google Analytics. Since its inception, the number have users have steadily increased, so much so at  one point that Google was forced to turn down users, and implement a reservation system to sign up for the technology. The analytics program is beginning to extend its reach beyond websites, and is now being put to use on blog sites, such as the wordpress program currently being used for this blog. It is safe to say that this program is here to stay, and is sure to dramatically change the landscape of ecommerce. With a new product redesign on the way, it will be exciting to see what more the program is capable of in the future.

 

 

Week One Blog: Internet Privacy

In this week’s lecture we discussed trust, permission, and relationship building in online marketing. Although many topics were discussed, the overarching theme of the lecture tended to focus on Internet privacy. It is hard to believe that a mere 15 years ago, the Internet was just being introduced to the general public. Nowadays, anyone can perform a multitude of activities online, including shopping, banking, chatting with friends, or simply a general information search. While the Internet has aided in adding convenience to our lives, it has also brought forth with it a new set of problems. One of the most heated issues to date, is that of Internet privacy.

Issues related to Internet privacy have emerged, due to the fact that there is an enormous amount of information available on the Internet. In order to try and keep personal information secure, a few different courses of action have emerged. First of all, the government was forced to draft new legislation, called PIPEDA, to govern personal information online. PIPEDA was set in place to provide a set of guidelines regarding how personal information is collected and controlled. While PIPEDA has helped to control privacy to an extent, the problem lies in the fact that the digital media industry is so dynamic, legislation is often not current enough to address all of the new concerns emerging.

One way that businesses have tried to dispel public uncertainty, is by paying to have their site stamped with the TRUSTeseal of approval. This symbol, widely recognized by consumers, means that the site, and your personal information are secure. TRUSTe also gives advice on a businesses’ privacy policy, and will help in aiding the business to ensure that information is being protected. This seal of approval has helped to ease the fears of consumers shopping online. However, while online purchases have led to identity theft in some instances, it seems that the new trend of social networking stands to cause even larger problems.

Many individuals are completely oblivious to the fact that social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, could be very dangerous if the wrong information is posted. Hordes of users freely post their email addresses, birth date, address, marital status, and telephone numbers on these sites. Pictures and comments made are readily available for anyone to see, unless the user has taken the time to opt-out of sharing their profile with the world. However, the creators of these sites are not very forthcoming about informing users that this opt-out version is available. This option is embedded in very fine print on the bottom of the page, where the average user is not likely to go. It is only recently that these sites have come under fire for privacy issues, and they are now scrambling to find a solution to the problem.

It has just been announced that Facebook will start adding a Report Abuse seal of approval on their site, which will allow users to report questionable content if seen on the site. While it is promising that social networks are trying to police content, the onus is still being left up to the consumer to take action, which may not be the best approach. Further, it will be difficult to decide what type of material would be considered questionable, as users come from all walks of life.  Although the social networks are trying to mirror the success of the TRUSTe symbol, there are still many questions that could be raised regarding the actual security the ReportAbuse seal will provide.

Perhaps the best advice to consumers would be to really become aware of what information you are putting out there for the public to see. In terms of social networking, customers need to understand that everything on your site is open to the public. Further, it is also really important that if you are joining one of these sites that you take extra caution with password protection. Many users have the same password for all of their accounts, which makes it even easier for someone to hack into your personal information.

It will be interesting to see how the legislation regarding Internet privacy will change over the next few years. Up until this point, the government has been forced into taking a reactive, rather than a proactive stance, due to the dynamic nature of the industry. One has to wonder if the industry needs to plateau before legislation can really catch up, and become efficient. In the meantime, it is probably best to remain cautious regarding any information posted online.

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