Thanks to Sebastian at WebAnalyticsBook for reminding me of the great articles and posts that I may have missed.
I don't use FireFox that much (maybe I should) but then again, I noticed a couple of times lately that when Firefox crashed, it asked me if it could restore the sessions that were running before - and when I answered "yes" it was generally successful in bringing back all the sessions I had running.
I think that functionality is built into FireFox by default - but Google extended it to work across computers - that's what it looks like to me.
Well, it extends beyond that - according to Rebecca Lieb, who wrote a very well written, witty and wonderful article about the hidden potential of Firefox Google Browser Sync Plug-in for Web Analytics vendors - to get more accurate counts of unique visitors.
"...According to Google, Browser Sync "continuously synchronizes your browser settings -- including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords -- across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions.
".....no matter how many work, home, or other computers you regularly or sporadically use, if you use Firefox, have this extension installed, and are logged in, you can theoretically be counted as a single user insofar as any tracking application is concerned. That, in turn, would inform recency and frequency metrics. The implications are profound -- and potentially a real breakthrough for analytics vendors and ad-tracking services. They stretch into Web analytics, anonymous behavioral targeting, affiliate marketing, accurate counting of unique site visitors, and likely a few more issues."
It's an interesting idea that solves some problems while creating another set of problems related to privacy. Rebecca explains:
"....The downside? Privacy concerns. Earlier this week, I clicked into my Gmail account from my work computer in San Francisco. Up popped my boyfriend's account. He'd been at my place to feed the cats and, while there, checked his mail on my home laptop. Avinash told me he routinely gets "funny stuff" from Amazon.com, then realizes he's logged in as his wife. This goes a bit beyond privacy, of course. Unless people can be counted on to log in and out (and they can't), 100 percent accuracy won't happen.
"If someone's simultaneously logged into your account, it will not synch," explains Avinash. "Suddenly all of these people would be thought of as the same person, but it makes it no worse than it is today."
Well, I can see why people who travel alot might like to use Google Browser Sync. By the way Avinash Kaushik and Eric Peterson both weighed in on issues around using the Google Browser Sync Plug-in. I think I'll install it and try using it - maybe it'll help me keep my browsers in sync between my work laptop and home laptop.
I think the idea of what Browser Sync does, rather than the specific application, being the right direction to go in. I really don't know if Google Browser Sync is the answer to getting better Unique visitor counts - but it might be the the foundation of a method to improve all visitor counting.
Rebecca Lieb's article "A Web Analytics Breakthrough (That May Never Be Used)" shows me why she's the main editor at ClickZ.
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