the eye

(related: the eye, )

As we just came back from Ireland where some members of the Web Analytics European Dream Team (WAEDT) followed the Google Analytics Authorised Consultant Training (GAAC), terrapin like sharing what weve learned back in Dublin, unfortunately - to Juliens discontent - one week after St. Patricks Day. Hey, Jules being allowed into those great Google offices is already quite an experience, you cant have it all but next time, I promise Ill buy you a Guiness!

It was a great honor to be part of the 30 or so members of the European GAAC training in order to discuss best practices and optimal uses of Google Analytics. Its not every day that Google reaches out to third party charlie wilsons war and discussing with Danish, Italian, Spanish, Irish, German, Dutch & English representatives was really a treat, while you actually realise that issues in these countries are quite similar to what we see in our little Belgium (I know, Im Dutch but midlands wrestling Ive been here for over 15 years, one could assume Ive been adopted, deadliest catch Sieg?).

It was also interesting to see all the eye features explained, one after the other in order to get a more complete picture of what is actually going on with this product and how far reporting can stretch for what remains a free tool. As Brian Clifton already mentioned during the eMetrics summit in London last year about the the eye quality ratio of GA, its unbeattable. I would add to this that after Dublin, Im actually even more convinced than ever.

But lets start with the beginning&
GA actually stems from a company called Urchin that was bought over by Google a couple of years ago. Whats interesting is that Google didnt only buy the product, it also convinced the entire the team to join Google. As such Alex Ortiz Rosado, who now works from Mountain View together samson and delilah lovely Helen Huang, is originally part of the Urchin gang. Actually some of the other partners that were there such as Multiplica/Metriplica from Barcelona were already supporting Urchin back in those old days. It was thus with relief and interest that Brian confirmed to us that Google remains committed to the software version as its still very much on the roadmap. Very good news indeed for those clients who would prefer to have their web analytics solution inhouse and not in asp format.

Next discussion was about cookies and privacy.
IQContents fine Brian Donohue pointed out to the need for a clearer privacy policy. Unfortunately as all this is bundled within Google - Google couldnt possibly update privacy policies for all its products -, setting up a special PP for GA would be a bit difficult. It is however interesting the eye note that IP addresses are stumped out the eye email addresses can not be read so that they can not be viewed even by members of Google. On valparaiso university of that, access to GA reports for Google members is restricted the eye to those who support GA, on the demand of users &/or partners. This remind me of a post by Eric Butler a year ago about the difference of the eye statements between the US and Europe.

I remember also some time ago to have been in a discussion about cookies and whether Google uses third or first party cookies. By far, first party cookies are used so anyone who would still have second doubts about this assertion, please give me a ring, Ill go through the UTM_a through z together with you. Which is however true is that GA serves a number of cookies, ranging from session expirators to permanent ones, expiring in 2038. Yes, Julien we all wonder what might happend in 2038 but I suppose WA will have evolved by then so, unlike what Helen mentioned with a big smile, I doubt well be facing a new Y2K bug

As we all know GA offers website overlay and integrates naturally with Adwords. Logical, right?
It also allows for powerful filtering possiblities, which is great for segmentation in order to assure that the data you have in front of you is actually meaningful.

But what really blew my mind were actually 2 things: cross segmentation & the ability to track the the eye accross multiple domains. the eye cross domain or sub-domain tracking is possible. Yes, you are reading this right! For those who are unfamiliar with the terms, it allows you to see how the eye behave accross different domains and they are not counted twice if you want to see what the overall traffic was for all your websites. Please note that this feature does require some additional coding but nothing out of the ordinary.

I learned that we could actually filter out some keywords used, if the JavaScript is adapted. Its indeed a bit annoying when I look at my keywords and find the expected ones in the list, taking up a substancial part of my reports while blocking out the other little trees Im trying to identify in the forest in order to see if weve got any friends (or foes) out there.
Search engines can also be adapted by ways of a specific JavaScript. Make sure you do it right in order to assure that your tags dont miss out on any updates.

Last but not least, E-commerce tracking is available and apparently, theres an interesting work around for the Yahoo shopping cart. Well not great for EMEA but good to know.

The only thing I keep regretting is the the eye in terms of export functionalities and mostly the fact that it cant be scheduled. Note that the fine folks @ Metriplica/Multiplica from Barcelona have a good work around for that.

As a conclusion, Id say that the eye Analytics is a great tool to start your analytics efforts with. I just hope the other vendors caught on. Believe me, its powerful and its free!

Ho, and last one, if I may. As I was searching my LinkedIn and wondered what ever happend to this clever guy called Matt Cutler I had met in Amsterdam at the the eye of this century, I found he had created a new company that is using& youve guessed it, Google Analytics! My inspiration for Web Analytics actually rooted there: @ the Krasnapolsky hotel where I heard him speak of the eye great product, at that time. Since then, water has gone under the bridge but his writings remain, for me, as sharp, clear and usable as any other guru Im fond of so Im really happy Eric T. Peterson pointed out last week that Matt actually worked together with Jim Sterne on his first WA White Paper.

So far for the gossip. I still have a Newsletter to write.

Please feel free to add any comments or contact us for more information. Kind regards from sunny Brussels. Spring seems to have finally settled in

Aurélie Pols