How did it all start ?

Figured it is only appropriate to write (and learn) about the history of web analytics for the last blog of the session. In addition, it would be interesting to find out whatever happened to the firms that had pioneered this industry; spoiler alert, most of them are no longer with us.

 

Origins

The first idea around creating web analytics, the accumulation and analysis of traffic and visitor behavior, came to fruition around 1992 (1). During this period this was a capability needed by administrators that wanted to get transparency into activity on their sites to ensure site was actually functional and it was up and available.

Probably, shortly after marketing firms started to look for ways that this information could be utilized to reach customers in a more efficient way. And it seems like this was the moment when the responsibility for web analytics moved from the technology division to the marketing teams.

 

 

Where are they now ?

In the beginning, 2 different schools of web analytics emerged, front runner to the birth of 2 types of analytics vendors  (2); software retailers similar to WebTrends (still in business as an independent company!) and NetGenesis (which hasbeen acquired by SPSS in 2001) and ASPs (Application Service Providers) including Urchin (acquiredby Google  in 2005) , Unica (now part ofIBM), CoreMetrics (anotherIBM target) and WebSideStory (boughtby Omniture which was later acquired by Adobe) which offered browser tag based approach. The “in-house” approach used installed application on a local hardware and meant to review data gathered in the web-logs. The other approach, Application Service Providers, tried to utilize the hosted solutions to view throughput and other relevant information. (3)

In the mid 90’s introduction of affiliate concept spurred an era of predictive web analytics shops and the first the company to came up with this idea was a small two year old company called Amazon (4) and popularized mainly by on hobby sites. At any time, a site could have a bar on top of their site with banners that connectedtheir affiliates. Usually, these sites (or affiliates) would have some common attribute with the other affiliates. As these relationships got more sophisticated, affiliate concept started to include sophisticated software which enabled the site to order links based on the visitor volume they got form their affiliate sites, basically incentivize affiliates to include links on their sites to swap visitors. Near these banner bars was usually a link to an external analytics service, where affiliates and site visitors could see how many unique visits the site received per day. (5)

Increasing amount of websites utilizing this sort of affiliate program drove the explosion in external web-analytics start-ups, and subscription driven services slowly started become more prominent. In the beginning, these subscription based offerings primarily targeted large enterprises, but over time started to target smaller entities and personal websites as they became more available and affordable with the emergence of e-commerce.

Following the dot com bubble burst, early 2000s, the web analytics industry entered an era of consolidation that even continues today and very evident a few paragraphs ago.

The Dilemma

I think the main question at this point is, whether such a rapid consolidation of a new field like web analysis raises the question of less innovation down the road. Obviously, in a very short period of time the huge technology companies Google, Adobe and IBM acquired almost all small, agile start-ups that had started the analytics paradigm. However, the obvious counter argument is these corporations have the means, both intellectual and capital, to fund costly software initiatives which could very well spurs growth and innovation. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Microsoft with 66 billion in equity (6) is nowhere to be seen in this market since 2009. I think it is not unfair to categorize this as an “historical” surrender and an interesting side note.

What is next ?

Finally, as the field matures, the new frontier and sure to be an historical milestone one day is the web ethics, that raises the question of the data should be collected and used. One thing is for certain, as the debate around ethics on the web, the utilization of cookies, tags and storing data increases, the analytics area will be impacted. It is going to be fascinating to see where the web analytics go next.

References:

1)      Brief History of Web Analytics. Dems, Kristina
http://www.brighthub.com/internet/google/articles/76256.aspx

2)      The Evolution of Web Analytics Tech. Umeno, Dorota.
http://info.confluencedigital.com/blog/bid/118058/The-Evolution-of-Web-Analytics-Tech-We-ve-Come-a-Long-Way-Baby

3)      Application Service Provider. Rouse, Margaret
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/application-service-provider

4)      History of Affiliate Marketing. Collins, Shaw
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1699440/history-affiliate-marketing

5)      History of Affiliate Marketing. Vredenburgh, Evan
http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Affiliate-Marketing&id=7125115

6)      Microsoft, Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

 

 

Alternatives to Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a great tool. And it’s free, which only adds to the greatness. But let’s explore some alternatives so we know what else is out there. After all, every business has its own unique goals and objectives, and Google Analytics cannot serve them all. There could be many reasons to look at other options. Perhaps a company wants multiple analytics programs. Even though this could get complicated, it can also confirm the data. Maybe you just don’t trust Google. This might sound crazy, but there are definitely companies out there that don’t agree with Google’s service and privacy terms, so they avoid it as much as possible. And lastly, maybe GA just doesn’t cut it and additional functionality is needed. I’ll walk you through three decent alternatives for SMBs that could provide the right analysis to help optimize a company’s website and online business.

Number 1: KISSmetrics

The first thing you see on KISSmetric’s website is this:

 So this company is obviously comparing itself to Google and boldly suggests it does even more. KISSmetrics claims to differentiate itself from GA in the following ways:

·         It helps you to get to know your customers

·         It offers simple design and usability for the most complex businesses

·         It provides actionable analytics and insights

One of the great claims it makes is that it has solutions for any business’ unique needs. If you’re looking for a platform, KISSmetrics provides a 14-day free trial to help you know if it’s right for your business. If you decide to use KISSmetrics, you’ll be paying anywhere from $49 to $499 based on the plan.

Number 2: Coremetrics

Coremetrics claims to have sophisticated analytics that provide businesses with real time insight into how consumers are interacting with their brands online. I’ve never used it personally but I have heard good things. It was recently acquired by IBM and is now one of IBM’s marketing products. Here are a few things it offers that stand out to me:

·         Real-time reporting

·         Easy setup with a unified tag manager infrastructure

·         Integrated social media analytics and reporting

·         Unique, event-driven customer segmentation

There are actually a lot more I could add to the list, but these four were my favorites. Some of the others were similar to features the other platforms have that I mention so I left them out. I’m not sure how much this would cost, but I’m going to assume it would be around the same as KISSmetrics.

Number 3: Hubspot

I saved this for last because I personally like it the most. Hubspot provides all sorts of marketing tools and platforms and one of these is its closed-loop analytics. This platform provides actionable analytics that track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts across various channels. You’ll know how your customers found you, any critical touch points for conversion, which campaigns are most successful, and what actions generate the highest quality leads.

Here are three features that really stick out to me:

·         you can track up to ten competitors

·         you can automate detailed reports

·         you can view industry benchmarks

You can create pretty in-depth reports in Google Analytics, but to my knowledge, you cannot accomplish the other two features I just mentioned, and for these reasons, it would be smart to look at Hubspot’s state-of-the-art analytics tool. There is a tom more I could discuss about Hubspot’s analytics, but I’d rather keep this short and to the point. I’m unsure on the monthly cost of using Hubspot, but I would guess it’s more expensive than the aforementioned.

So there you have it; three more great options for web analytics other than Google Analytics. I did not mention Adobe’s SiteCatalyst or Discover because these are the platforms I currently use at work, and I wanted to explore and learn about other options. But they are also very popular (and very expensive) options. I hope you’ve learned something. Please feel free to mention some other great options in the comments or some other cool features of the ones I have listed.

Refer to the following sites for more info:

KISSmetrics
Coremetrics
Hubspot