I came across this quote: [Google Analytics] "Content Experiments sucks and I will never use it for any of my clients....run away". My initial response: Whether you like a G product or not, to say that Google's stats methods are unreliable is silly and lacks credibility. I am no fan of the Google Analytics Content Experiments, but I put my views into context here.
The default Return on Investment (ROI) displayed in Google Analytics is misleading:
1: It combines revenue form your transactions and goals. That can lead to double counting e.g. if add-to-cart is also a monetised goal.
2: GA has no idea about what profit margins you operate under - how can it? Google therefore has to assume that *ALL* revenue is 100% profit.
Avinash Kaushik is a great measurement thought provoker and I always come away from his posts challenged and simulated. The following post from him - Multi-Channel Attribution Modeling: The Good, Bad and Ugly Models - is a great reference read, though I disagree on a couple of items. Here is my input.
Online privacy is a complex subject. Hence I use this slide to neatly sum up the issue by analogy. Essentially, to illustrate the different levels of privacy I use the scenario of an organisation wishing to understand the impact of traffic on their community.
I am sometimes accused (light heartedly) of drinking too much of the Google Koolade – meaning I endorse the good parts and skim the pitfalls. However this post is a criticism of Google for what I consider to be a flawed thinking.
A very quick poll to help me understand book sales. This is to help me understand how to approach future editions, the value of an ebook, and how updates can be managed.
Last week I attended my 8th GA Summit in Mountain View (the first one had just 10 people in the room! Four of that original group where there this year*). For a change, I summarise the highlights - and why I consider them important to you the GA user - as an infographic
Its good to know the limits of your Google Analytics implementation. All software has it limits and Google Analytics is no exception. This list is Universal Analytics specific.
Following a recent period of renewed media debate about the legality of tracking website visitors with Google Analytics, Sara Andersson, founder of Search Integration, interviewed me about my opinions and what the debate should really be about...
The Questions: