You raise an excellent point. Every analytics package that uses cookies is plagued by this issue. I know that Eric Peterson has done extensive research on this issue and the numbers range from 5% deletion rate to 40% deletion rate.

My opinion? Get over it. Look at the trends in your data to understand what is challenging. If your data is off by 10% today, chances are it was off by 10% last week. As long as your vital metrics have increased you’re doing ok.

Justin

Happy New Year! I keep reading about how great (accurate) Analytics is, but there is a problem. How can it ever overcome the privacy issue that is cookies? A lot of people have their browsers set to delete all cookies automatically when the browser is shut. Browsers even have this setting by default sometimes. This issue seems to be ever more important as people become aware of the issues with permanent cookies and their tracking abilities. This seems to work against Analytics ever getting truly accurate if a significant percentage of users are wrongly identified as new visitors repeatedly…

Data integration is a topic near and dear to me. I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts, and I’ve posted a followup on my own blog:

http://june.typepad.com/june/2007/12/more-data-integ.html

Cheers,

– June Dershewitz

Thanks for your well-written response. I agree that there will probably always be room for a third party tool, especially one that integrates well with existing advertising platforms. I do hope that someday the various PPC vendors open their applications a bit more so analytics vendors can do a more seamless integration. I’m not going to hold my breath though, too many big egos involved in that discussion. :)

I agree that the JavaScript drop-off tracking would be nice, but it’s not a necessity.

Thanks again for reading,

Justin

Interesting observation, but I don’t think Google will buy another analytics company. What value will one of those other tools add to GA? Sure, there may be 5% of GA users that would want the features of an Omniture, but I don’t think that’s enough to prompt Google to run out and acquire someone else.

Now, if there was a company that did something really innovative with analytics, then I think we might see an acquisition.

I think we’ll see GA mature with the analytics market. Folks like us, who are immersed in the analytics world always want bigger and better tools. But a majority of the people out there are just getting started and GA is more than adequate for them.

As for support, there are a lot of great options for GA support. Google has a partner network with some really talented folks willing to help out. Full disclosure here, I’m one of those folks!

Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Justin

Thanks for your comment. I don’t believe that real time reporting is necessary. I’m not sure that any marketer can adjust and change strategy on an intra-day basis, it’s just too much work. In my experience, GA data us usually about 6 hours old, which is more than adequate for analysis.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Justin

I really enjoy your blog and appreciate your shortcut for Google Analytics. We tried using the Visual Sciences analytics/PPC package but did not see the expected increase in ROI, not to mention their bid system does not work as advertised. The free Google Analytics tool is great, and with the release of Web Optimizer, you can really increase your ROI and conversion rate by making slight modifications to your landing pages.

It seems like every week, Google is announcing a new tool to rival third-party analytic packages. Something that I have been asking for years is the ability to pre-define campaigns and share them with new accounts. I have not tried the new feature in the MCC, but I am excited to give it a whirl. It should help us quickly and smoothly launch high-ROI campaigns that have been proven to work.

I agree with you that Google’s tool works best for Google, but the biggest selling point for Omniture and other third-party tools is the promise of managing all outlets in one location. Until Google can make that next leap, there is always going to be room for a third-party tool.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft’s Gatineau package expands its features and matures out of Beta. It has substantial segmentation capability to help PPC campaign managers target their high-value clients. One thing that both Google and Microsoft are missing is the JavaScript drop-off tracking. That was one feature that could substantially help Google/Microsoft, but it is definitely not worth paying $25,000 per year from a third-party vendor.

Rich Page
http://www.rich-page.com