Web Statistics

[DaNuGai]

Hello,I am looking for a program that would provide precise information and statistics about the visitors. I would prefer a program with a nice graphical interface.Does anyone know of a free web statistics program that I can use?Thanks in advance.

[aspnetguy]

Google Analytics

[vchris]

Would I need to install anything?My stats tool with my hoster is very gay! I count in the stats, so every time I refresh it counts as a hit. I can't see unique visitors.

[Skemcin]

Google Analytics is pretty cool and you only need two things:a.) a google account (I've got invites if you need one)b.) ability ot add javascript to the pages that you want to track.

[vchris]

I was able to sign up by myself. I don't have the ability to copy/paste the code

[vchris]

wow what an upgrade compared to the text based stats I was getting. This has some much more options and stats. Love it! :)Now where are the #!

[reportingsjr]

Updated daily at 12 AM.

[Skemcin]

Yeah, its takes a while before you will get any reportable stats. But I really like the Goals/Conversion reporting. Set certain target pages, like your portfolio and contact page as goals and you can see how many folks go to those pages each visit - and reports trends as well. Overall, its a really nice tool - especially if you have search engine advertising campaigns.

[vchris]

I got some huge numbers this morning. 1 visitor which was me :)Is there a way I can see from where they came from (google, w3schools, ...)?

[aspnetguy]

All Reports -> Marketing Campaign Results -> Source ConversionThis gives you a nice pie chart of where your traffic comes from.

[vchris]

Very nice I like!

[jah-dev]

Visitor Segment Performance -> Network Location ... shows visitor's ISPs and can also help you identify yourself.Also, if you haven't already seen them, the Web Design Parameters in Content Optimization provide some very interesting reports

[vchris]

OMG I love Google Anal-ytics!!! So much more powerful. So much more precise.Thanks for showing me this great tool

[aspnetguy]

no problem. I felt the same way you do now when I first signed up.

[Skemcin]

as did I, the only scary thing is I didn't not read all the fine print so I am a little concerned that google is "doing something" with all that information . . . . discretely of course. Think about it, they can easily produce informative reports say what screen dimensions or web browsers are more popular without disclosing or jeopardizing GA user information or privacy - if it was disclaimed (again the fine print).ugghh, now I'm not gonna stop thinking about it.

[justsomeguy]

Think about it, they can easily produce informative reports say what screen dimensions or web browsers are more popular without disclosing or jeopardizing GA user information or privacy

Am I missing something? What's the problem?

[aspnetguy]

I don't understand, all that data is available from the browser, how could that jeopardize privacy? it is readily and publicly available.

[Skemcin]

well, its getting stored and databased. So, technically the statistics can be used to digitally stalk you. Not that google is likely to do anything bad with the information, but the information gathered can easily be used to statistically report on such a variety of information which is fine as long as they remove the identity to which the information is tied to.For instance, you can easily look up in analytics what number and percentages of users are at each screen resolution. The way it is reported is harmless because the identity of each number is not represented - so its fair to report it. But the log actually has the identity (ip address) which can easily be tracked to at least a building and more than likely a person (via firewall logs). So, all my point is is that without reading the fine print in the agreements I do not know if Google has disclaimed how and in what cases (beside legal ones) they maintain statistical anonymity. For a real life example, what if the gov't told google to report to them every Google Analytic stat that had knownterroristsite.org as a referral address to your site. Next thing you know you are on a list without your knowledge and without ever knowing the link to your site even existed. And that whole effect can snowball real quick and get personal before you can even bat an eye.

[aspnetguy]

okay I see your point. I guess I am still a bit naive when it comes to things like that.

[eBBee]

Script in a page accessing Google servers points toEither some information is taken out by Google for some purposeOr some information may be added to complete statisticsOtherwise, a similar application running locally would have been sufficient to produce the same result using existing server logs.On top of Google's knowledge about the contents of every page, knowing the source and destination of information is more than sufficient for a variety of purposes. There are endless possibilities to utilize this information.If Internet Explorer's all requests go through Microsoft's Servers or Firefox's requests go through Mozilla's servers or NotJustBrowsing's requests go through my servers, nobody will use these browsers. I wonder why people are not opposing the use of such tool by Google?

[aspnetguy]

Script in a page accessing Google servers points toEither some information is taken out by Google for some purposeOr some information may be added to complete statisticsOtherwise, a similar application running locally would have been sufficient to produce the same result using existing server logs.On top of Google's knowledge about the contents of every page, knowing the source and destination of information is more than sufficient for a variety of purposes. There are endless possibilities to utilize this information.If Internet Explorer's all requests go through Microsoft's Servers or Firefox's requests go through Mozilla's servers or NotJustBrowsing's requests go through my servers, nobody will use these browsers. I wonder why people are not opposing the use of such tool by Google?

IMO, there is no opposition because each person is free to choose whether to use Google analytics or not. The siutation you described would force all traffic through those companies servers without the user having a choice.

[eBBee]

IMO, there is no opposition because each person is free to choose whether to use Google analytics or not. The siutation you described would force all traffic through those companies servers without the user having a choice.

Yes, people are free to use Google Analytics but what I am saying is that people are not told that google will use this information only to provide you statistics. If they do guarantee, I will use their tool.It is like if Microsoft say to you that you are using my browser and you get what you request, so what if your requests go through my servers.Another way to look at it is if you offer your customers their website with your web statistics tool accessing your server, what will happen? Just in case if you have two such competitor customers, you can sink one of them easily by knowing their strengths and weaknesses. AND you choose to tell your customers only as much as Google is telling Analytics users.

[jesh]

This data collection is occurring throughout all of western civilization - not just on the Internet. Think about transactions that are made with credit cards. Any retailer that has you swipe your card into a computerized point of purchase system has the ability to associate your credit card number, and, therefore, your identity, with the products that you purchased. Just like Skemcin said with the data that hypothetically is being collected by Google, the governments could step in and say to these retailers (or credit card companies for that matter) that they want a list of all consumers who purchased currentterroristrelateditem.I don't believe the problem is with the collection of the data. The problem is with the use and/or abuse of that data.

[justsomeguy]

I guess I don't see much of a problem. The only problems I see with things like web privacy are cases like the Yahoo fiasco in China, where a company, in this case Yahoo, is providing information about its users to the Chinese government so that the government can imprison and torture those people. But the problem with that is not that Yahoo collected that information, the problem is that they agreed to give it to the Chinese government.

For a real life example, what if the gov't told google to report to them every Google Analytic stat that had knownterroristsite.org as a referral address to your site. Next thing you know you are on a list without your knowledge and without ever knowing the link to your site even existed.

You're making a major assumption there - that Google would agree to give the information to the government. Google was the only search engine to resist the government after Yahoo and MSN had already caved with nary a whimper. Personally, I think that Google would sooner destroy the information and face the consequences then give it up and risk the backlash from their users. I know that I will never use Yahoo for anything for the same reasons I will never buy a Sony product, and I don't even do anything that sensitive online.I might be naive, but I really don't care if people know what screen resolution I'm using, or which browser, or which OS, or what my IP is, or whether or not I have Javascript or plugins enabled. If anyone really cares, right now I'm running at 1280x800, so take that gem of knowledge and run with it. If someone is surfing a site watching men having ###### with horses, and they don't want other people to know that they are doing it, here's the solution: don't do it. But if there is a site out there that teaches men ways to gain the trust of young girls for sexual purposes.. well, frankly, I *want* the government monitoring that site. You can't have it both ways though I know, that would open up a can of worms, but that's what I think anyway.But the way it is now, people are volunteering worse information then this on places like MySpace or whatever the teen site du jour is. There are personal accounts, complete with pictures, names, ages, and intimate details, of things that are either illegal or could get someone fired or turned down for a job in the future. And all of that information is volunteered by the people making their sites. I don't understand it, for some reason people don't understand that once you put something online, that's it. It's online now, you can't take it off. A Google search for your name in 10 years will still turn up a cached page of you describing how you took this giant bong rip and almost passed out. Like I was saying to reportingsjr yesterday, trying to remove information from the internet is like trying to take the pee out of the pool.OK, I think that's enough rambling for now.

[Skemcin]

I guess I don't see much of a problem. The only problems I see with things like web privacy are cases like the Yahoo fiasco in China, where a company, in this case Yahoo, is providing information about its users to the Chinese government so that the government can imprison and torture those people. But the problem with that is not that Yahoo collected that information, the problem is that they agreed to give it to the Chinese government.You're making a major assumption there - that Google would agree to give the information to the government. Google was the only search engine to resist the government after Yahoo and MSN had already caved with nary a whimper. Personally, I think that Google would sooner destroy the information and face the consequences then give it up and risk the backlash from their users. I know that I will never use Yahoo for anything for the same reasons I will never buy a Sony product, and I don't even do anything that sensitive online.I might be naive, but I really don't care if people know what screen resolution I'm using, or which browser, or which OS, or what my IP is, or whether or not I have Javascript or plugins enabled. If anyone really cares, right now I'm running at 1280x800, so take that gem of knowledge and run with it. If someone is surfing a site watching men having ###### with horses, and they don't want other people to know that they are doing it, here's the solution: don't do it. But if there is a site out there that teaches men ways to gain the trust of young girls for sexual purposes.. well, frankly, I *want* the government monitoring that site. You can't have it both ways though I know, that would open up a can of worms, but that's what I think anyway.But the way it is now, people are volunteering worse information then this on places like MySpace or whatever the teen site du jour is. There are personal accounts, complete with pictures, names, ages, and intimate details, of things that are either illegal or could get someone fired or turned down for a job in the future. And all of that information is volunteered by the people making their sites. I don't understand it, for some reason people don't understand that once you put something online, that's it. It's online now, you can't take it off. A Google search for your name in 10 years will still turn up a cached page of you describing how you took this giant bong rip and almost passed out. Like I was saying to reportingsjr yesterday, trying to remove information from the internet is like trying to take the pee out of the pool.OK, I think that's enough rambling for now.

Thats great insight I agree with probably your entire statement. I really wasn't trying to make a real extreme point other than the fact that I did not read their user agreement and that, in itself, is putting a lot of blind faith in the company. Obviously I have the confidence to do that and I do recall that information issue with the government you mentioned. But I also know that Google made a huge change in their AdWords model that threw a lot of people off kilter just as their tendency to slightly modify their search algorithm to keep indexes refresh (to which I have no issue with the later as it kills the relevancy of sites that manipulate code for positioning and rewards sites that are set up legitimately).I guess what I'm saying is that I agree with what you are saying. I mean the internet is the ultimate vehicle for free speech and with that freedom certain liberties are compromised. By not reading the agreement, I simply ignored the chance to understand what liberties I might have forfeited - ignorance, in this sense, can be quite scary without any other information to base trust on.