NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Re: Web tracking solutions
ONLINE-ADS>> Re: Web tracking solutions
Kim Brooks (kbrooks_at_cortland.com)
Tue, 15 Oct 1996 23:07:31 -0700
>First regarding the information: to my knowledge, you can only get specific
>information (ie. e-mail address, name) using cookies if the person browsing
your
>site has listed that information under browser preferences (identity in
>Netscape), etc.
The ability to read email address and name from Netscape was a security flaw
that was fixed in version 2.0 (I think that information was only accessible
in one or two versions, but it caused too much user protest, thus the fix).
To get such information, the visitor must specifically send it to the site
via email or a form, etc.
Cookies are something entirely different: your server writes little bits of
information into the user's cookie.txt file (open yours to see what little
bits you have collected), then can later retrieve that information if the
user returns. But again, it's probably not an email address unless the user
has surrendered it.
>Second, I/PRO, ABC et al are used because they are "names" in the biz and not
>because they have any "magical" formula for log analysis. How do you feel
about
>turning over your logs to these people, having them massage the data, and
>selling the info back to you (something you could have done on your own)? Then
>they make money off you twice because they can sell your data (in
aggregate) to
>the highest bidder....
I'm not so sure that IPRO is getting all the biz. While it's true that they
have name value, I have talked to many major site owners who are 1)
astounded at the IPRO price tag; 2) nervous about being resold, even in
aggregate (as you mention). As one newspaper site told me, "If they will
sell my numbers in aggregate for $x, how hungry would they have to be to
sell my numbers to a competitor in not-so-aggregate?" Very bad precedent
they have set there. Plus despite their exorbiant price tag, I understand
that they don't do custom reports. <standard rumor disclaimer here>
In terms of off-the-shelf, don't look for a pre-built cookie solution in the
near future anyway since there is no standard way of writing cookies or even
what kind of info is stored there. I think if you are smart enough to write
information to cookies, you are probably smart enough to collect it &
organize it when the user returns.
My personal preference: plain old log files with plain old Interse. From
our standard reports, we already get detailed reports on 404 errors,
visitation to every page, path thru the site, referring URLs, user domain
type, organization & geography, browser type & version, bandwidth usage by
hours & days, and more. I understand that Interse will also track
"registered" users, but we haven't tried this feature yet.
Nothing's perfect, but that's just about all you can glean from logs so far.
And hey, who are we to complain when that is about 1000 times more than
radio, print or television media know about their audience, without all the
expensive surveys & Nielsen reports?
Kim Brooks
Bardo Internet Marketing
* U.S. News Online - http://www.usnews.com
* mostNEWYORK - http://www.usnews.com
* PDI - http://www.precisionimages.com
* Sportsgear.com - http://www.sportsgear.com
