Web Analytics Management

What Does Web Analytics Consolidation, Fragmentation and Wal-Mart-ization Mean to You?

There has been plenty of discussion over the last few days about the consolidation of the web analytics marketplace due to the Omniture/Visual Sciences deal, and some comments on my last posting speculating about the future of Coremetrics and WebTrends.

What strikes me about the discussions of consolidation, is that the very concept is really more relevant if you invest in web analytics companies, rather than use their products.

I wanted to suggest a different theory based on the point of view of a web analytics consumer, rather than a web analytics investor: that the web analytics marketplace is not simply consolidating; it is in fact fragmenting, and there are plenty of options to consider if you are purchasing web analytics solutions.

From an offering prospective, Omniture has acquired two companies (Instadia and Visual Sciences) that are also based primarily on a SaaS/page tag collection model, and also focused on a large company customer base. In this vendor segment that leaves Coremetrics' and Fireclick, and IndexTools as the main competitors, and if you are in Europe, you could also include Nedstat. So within the SaaS/page tag segment of the market,you could say that there has been some consolidation from a company standpoint. However, unless you require complex segmentation, robust Excel reporting, tons of data processing and custom querying, in many respects the functionality is all comparable.

Now let's look at the segment of vendors that offer hybrid solutions, i.e., page tag/log files, SaaS and licensed options. Sadly, many web analytics consumers dismiss these as "log file" solutions...thanks in large part to the marketing hype of SaaS/page tag centric vendors, poor data processing reputation of first generation log file solutions, and reinforcement of others who have only "discovered" web analytics in the last 5 years. From a web analytics consumer perspective, having the potential advantages of hosting and controlling your own data, capturing web site performance data, and the flexibility of using tags for event tracking can be very attractive. ClickTracks, Unica, WebTrends are all worth considering as options...and all have impressive product development paths going forward.

And finally there will likely be quite a bit of activity in specialized web analytics tools for Web 2.0 content that will challenge the Wal-Mart concept of analytics that's become the status quo. I don't mean simply integrating different types of analytics methodologies, but new tools used to analyze evolving content and applications at more discreet levels than current offerings. At the recent eMetrics Summit and through the research I'm conducting for the next edition of the Web Analytics Report, I've learned about ClearSpring, a widget analytics tool, Visible Measures, a video analytics tool, and even an analytics solution for Second Life ad campaigns, called VTracker. And of course there are already existing blog specific analytics tools out in the market already.

Sure, the Wal-Mart, one-stop-shop oriented vendors enable you to track Web 2.0, but newer tools that are lightweight can address specific analytics questions with a lot less fuss than the "all in one" analytics packages. As we've seen with the parallel adoption of Google Analytics in companies that already possess analytics tools, Web 2.0 specific measurement may be another function that can be reported upon outside of the primary web analytics solution.

While its likely that the web analytics marketplace will see more consolidation, the "new wave" of specialty tools suggests more fragmentation at the lower end. And if you think about it, that has always been the life cycle within analytics...players come, players go, and vendors keep evolving the technology to keep up with what needs to be measured.

For perspective, consider that of the first generation analytics big dogs...NetGenesis, Accrue and WebTrends... only WebTrends is on the scene today. We'll see who survives intact on this ongoing evolution, and what new players will emerge. Having been in web analytics since 1996, I'll quote the French novelist Alphonse Carr, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

So, enough rambling for now...I'm interested in hearing from you: What do you think about consolidation vs. fragmentation, and how are you using lighter tools with your "Wal-Mart" solutions? I look forward to reading your comments.

Let’s Party Like its 1999!! Web Analytics 2.0... the new Web Analytics 1.0?

In Eric Peterson's Web Analytics 2.0 keynote at X Change, he references “The Good Old Days” of analytics in a Web 1.0 world. In light of the fact that I started doing web analytics in 1995 and was an early evangelist for the use of Internet technology, I found this reference very interesting and somewhat telling about the state of web analytics practice.

In the Web Analytics 1.0 world, when log file tools ruled the web world, let’s say 1995-2000 (this is arguable of course, but lets not get distracted), it was clear that you needed more than tool driven analytics to understand whether your web site was accomplishing its business objectives. In my first web site management role, I relied on WebTrends and NetAnalysis plus usability testing, surveys, focus groups, and interviews, as well as cost s to determine whether the web sites were making money or saving money - I had to in order to justify the existence of the sites.  I considered this to be part of a web site measurement and testing methodology of which web analytics was a part, but not the sole component.

So, when Eric suggested that Web Analytics 2.0 demands these methodologies, in addition to only looking at the numbers, I was rather surprised that this should be considered groundbreaking.

On one hand, there is already activity in the combination of quantitative and qualitative data. Interestingly, Federal agencies have been doing this for some time by combining survey results from companies such as Foresee and Optimost, panel data from Hitwise and web analytics. It could be argued that Federal agencies are in a Web Analytics 1.0 world, but as I learned from my own experiences that might make for potentially more of a complete analysis if managed effectively. At the DC Web Managers Roundtable in December, we had a panel discussing how to use qualitative and quantitative measurement. You might find the podcast an interesting listen to get a perspective on how folks are approaching this.

On the other hand, in many organizations, the practice of web analytics is simply driven by the purchase and use of tools, rather than the use of analysis. Just look at the job reqs that come out of organizations today…consider how many focus on x years of experience with a tool. How many reqs ask for someone with experience in quantitative and qualitative measurement and analysis? How many look at wholistic web site measurement and testing as part of a comprehensive web channel strategy? So with all of the tool sophistication that we now have when compared to 10 years ago, is it possible that web site measurement has gotten more narrow? Have the tools driven the analysis rather than analysis driving the tools? I'd have to say yes, the focus on numbers and stats has become somewhat of a distraction to seeing the whole picture.

If you manage a web channel, quantitative and qualitative testing should always be part of your web site measurement and testing strategy. While this is not new in theory (I discussed this in my book, The Executive’s Guide to Web Site Measurement and Testing), if you haven’t yet put it into practice, you’ll find that it’s a method that will stand the test of time from Web 1.0 going forward.