I liked Onalytica's approach to Measuring Influence – PR Blogs by Flemming Madsen, and I'd like to invite him to do the same exact thing for Web Analytics Blogs that he does for Public Relations blogs.
While I don't know what the results would be in Onalytica gets involved - I'd like to see what Flemming Madsen comes up with because it appears to be a more objective approach.
For example, which blog is the most "influential"? Here's what Onalytica came up with for PR Blogs:
It made more sense for Avinash Kaushik to come up with the Top 10 Web Analytics Blogs, last year, when he was establishing his own; but this time it created more controversy than anything else - and a couple of good laughs.
"..WebTrends Score lets companies create their own scoring system for measuring the value of activities on their websites. For example, making a purchase can be worth 10 points, viewing a video 5, or requesting more information 3. These scores can be applied retroactively and allow companies to create their own metrics to decide the effectiveness of a campaign. There is no metric for measuring time spent on a page, but you can track individuals activities over a day, week, or month.
WebTrends Visitor Intelligence is a tool for correlating the relationship of different events within a visitor experience, such as tracking people who put products in shopping carts but didn't buy and compare their activities across a variety of other variables including offline transactions, frequency of purchasing, etc. This kind of cross tabulation lets you get inside the numbers to see opportunities and weaknesses in your marketing strategy and website design. It lets you find out what people with undesired behaviors have in common, and what separates them from your best customers, valuable information indeed. WebTrends developed a new UI for this application including the ability to annotate reports, and has standardized on it for the entire product suite. "
The first module seems pretty straightforward, but surprisingly, no analytics vendor that I know of, till now, actually did it. I'd have wanted as much when I was working on Engagement Metrics on IBM's Home Page, last year.
The second module, Visitor Intelligence, is a bit more complicated and I've not seen it (and have not worked with a really high end version of WebTrends yet).
"..The industry has debated the most effective ways to measure visitor engagement, whether page-based or time-based, but visitor engagement is not something you can measure using only a stopwatch," noted industry guru and consultant Eric Peterson, CEO, Web Analytics Demystified, Inc. "WebTrends Score offers a unique method to explore visitor engagement using criteria that makes sense to individual site owners, a reflection that 'engagement' means different things to different sites and that the components of engagement change from site to site and from campaign to campaign."
WebTrends Score is a patented technology solution that evaluates visitors' online behavior by quantifiable measuring the level of engagement or interest they have in content, products and services. By establishing rules that assign values to specific visit and visitor activities, marketers can go beyond conversion to evaluate the success of their efforts using realized and potential customer value. Score values can then be applied to consumer targeting activities, such as email, site personalization, offline direct marketing, as well as to campaign enhancement such as automated paid search optimization. This allows marketers to effectively target consumers and improve campaign performance.
After reviewing WebTrends Score, Jim Sterne, founding president of Web Analytics Association and director of eMetrics Summit said, "Not only is this right on the money, this is the money."
"…The FCC took real but incomplete progress this afternoon,” said Rick Whitt, Google’s lead policy exec, in a conference call Tuesday afternoon, lauding the openness conditions but lamenting the omission of rules enforcing wholesale access to the spectrum. When asked if Google would still bid on the spectrum, Whitt said Google “didn’t say it wouldn’t,” meaning that Google will make that decision at a later date.
"..the 700 MHz auction rulemaking is finally in, and as expected the commission adopted some of the open-networking proposals championed by Google, but not all. While Google carefully lauds the FCC for its action in a post on the company’s public policy blog, both Google and other observers (like the analysts at Stifel, Nicolaus) are guessing that the fine print in the rules (they will likely be published in a couple weeks) will make it extremely hard for any new national provider to surface. Official releases now are on the No info yet on theFCC site; the rules passed on a 4-1 vote, with commissioner Robert McDowell, the new friend of the incumbent telcos, as the only commish against Martin’s plan. "
In Google's Killer App published in today's IMedia Connection, Brandt Dainow says that Google Analytics killed the Web Analytics Software Industry. I think the answer is Yes and No. Certainly, on the low end, the answer is YES, the low end is, effectively won by Google - ClickTracks, for example, is dead (for better or worse - and I would not be surprised if that's why John Marshall quit ClickTracks a couple of months ago).
Here's some excerpts from the Google's Killer App article and my thoughts about it:
"….Google Analytics version 2 is not revolutionary. It does not extend web analytics software by providing new forms of analysis. Neither does it extend our understanding of websites by offering new approaches. What Google has done is simply take every feature in every product on the market and put them all into one system, and then make it available for free.
I am surprised by the range of features Google has added. I would have assumed some had been patented by the companies that created them. I can only conclude this is not the case. The range of features Google has borrowed from other products suggests the web analytics software industry managed to do 10 years of research and development without registering even one patent. This must be unique in the history of computing. If Google has stolen patented ideas, then I can only conclude they simply don't care and will rely on their massive cash reserves to sort it out later.
I say this as someone who, until this month, ran a company that produced web analytics software and directly competed with Google Analytics. No more. There is simply no way my organization can produce the range of features Google offers and make them available for nothing."
Google has not won, or even entered the higher end Web Analytics area - there's still no real segmentation ability, no Demographics Profiling, very limited Goal Setting and certain other limitations that make it unsuitable for Medium and Large Enterprise sites….and that's where the money is.
In fact, there's no point in trying to make Google Analytics scale to large enterprise sites - GA was not designed for it and it would be way too hard - plus sites that are large have other requirements for privacy settings, accessibility settings, language settings, that would make a Google Analytics Enterprise product more of headache than a benefit.
But if Google were to buy Visual Sciences/WebSideStory or Omniture (not so much Coremetrics … I doubt they'd be interested in Coremetrics) they'd own all the Analytics Market, pretty much.
I also found Brandt Dainow's article easy to read and thought provoking - as it gets me to use Google Analytics in a different way than I'm typically using it :
"…What Google has done is make these five numbers consistently available for almost every report. Next, they have taken every measurement that is technically possible to get with today's technology and allowed you to cross-reference these critical measurements against them.
For example, I can compare bounce rate by screen resolution to determine how my site design works on different screens. This is an important issue at present as designers push people to drop support for 800×600 so they can do more visually exciting work. I was able to look at this issue for a client recently with Google Analytics and show them that failing to support this resolution was costing them $100,000 a year in lost sales. Small percentages add up to big numbers on busy sites.
Coming from another angle, I can review bounce rate by country or city. This will tell me how my site appeals to different regions. In fact, I can compare bounce rate by keyword, by search engine, by affiliate site, by ad campaign and probably by eye color for all I know."
But then again, in a moment of cynicism, the author states:
"..Thus in a few minutes, you can generate a complex reporting schedule and information flow that will fool the organization into thinking it has a handle on its websites. "
Google Analytics makes you think you have all the information you need at your fingertips, but it's more the perception of it than the reality.
"…Site design can be assessed via overlays that appear over your website and show which links were clicked and how they contributed to conversions. This system does deceive a little, however. It is not really analyzing each individual link. If multiple links or images go to the same page, they will appear individually analyzed, but in fact they are all treated as one and the same.
Management reporting is also catered for extremely well. Most people use web analytics not to manage and improve their site, but merely to create reports they never look at for their managers, who also never look at them. Google makes this pointless process very easy. You can create mailing lists so reports can be emailed, create user-access accounts so people can see the reports online and schedule regular report runs."
"…The shape of the web analytics software industry has greatly changed with the new version of Google Analytics. In my view, everyone else is dead, they just haven't stopped moving yet. If you haven't installed Google Analytics on a site and devoted some serious time to it, you're already part of the previous generation. "
Again, an over simplification of Google Analytics dominance to get people worried; I don't buy it for the medium to high end customers that simply need a lot more customization and range of features Google can deliver today.
Iron Man Trailer - it's been a while since I wrote about the new Iron Man Movie Trailer - Robert Downey Jr. picked to play Iron Man last September and I was curious to see what Buzz has been generated on Iron Man and the Iron Man Trailer - AND NOW I HAVE THE REAL IRON MAN TRAILER (SEE BELOW)…At least, before someone takes it down …and I must say…the REAL IRON MAN TRAILER is IMPRESSIVE!!
"…Based on the long-running Marvel comic book series, "Iron Man" tells the story of Tony Stark, the enigmatic heir to the Stark Enterprises fortune. A driven inventor and executive who seems to have it all, Tony is haunted by his dark side. Though he commands his empire by day, by night he secretly becomes "Iron Man," the living embodiment of decades of defense spending and innovation. Strapping on billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art armor and weaponry each night to fight crime, terrorism and corporate espionage, Tony begins to crack under the strain of his fractured lifestyle and must ultimately confront the one enemy he can never beat - himself - "Iron Man."
STARRING: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard DIRECTOR: Jon Favreau STUDIO: Paramount Pictures RATING: PG-13
Last year I had the idea of using a film, even the Iron Man movie trailer, to market a corporation - by merging comic books and corporate marketing. I still think that's a good idea. Iron Man Trailer Here's "was" the IRON MAN TRAILER THAT EVERYONE has been looking for ……below - but it was removed today … so I'm leaving what was replaced … something that has nothing to do with Iron Man,
Here's was Real Iron Man Trailer - now it's some totally unrelated TV show.
But, I think the Real Iron Man Trailer is much more impressive than anything else I was able to come up with! I am sorry I did not keep a copy of it (but that might have been illegal - judging by the way the Iron Man Trailer is being pulled down everywhere).
My only issue is … why can't people see the Iron Man Trailer now? What's the big deal with pulling down the content? Is it to drive up demand? Or is it that they're changing the movie around and don't want to be tied down. Why not just let the trailer circulate - won't that generate more demand (ie: like the Cloverfield Trailer?). that's my take - What's Marvel's Legal Team so afraid of by letting the Iron Man Trailer to be out on the Internet - let the fans see it - get them used to the idea of what the Iron Man Movie is going to deliver.
Maybe there's legal issues here that I don't know about or understand - but, at least, if Marvel comes out and tells people why they can't release the Iron Man Trailer now - it will make more sense.
You can actually see some pictures of the real "Iron Man Suit" and what's probably going into the Iron Man Trailer that will be released soon, I bet. But since I have the Real Iron Man Trailer above (as my first video) it's much better than the videos below.
July 29, 2007
July 29, 2007
July 29, 2007
July 29, 2007
I think the Buzz about IRON MAN is being fed by the recent ComicCon Conference, judging from some of the blog posts being tracked by BlogPulse on IRON MAN and the IRON MAN TRAILER.
But the REAL IRON MANTRAILER is much better than anything else I've been able to come up with.
"..iCrossing is one of the leading SEM firms in the US if not the world. With that being said, however, the Inc. 500 listed their 2005 revenue at only $31.3 million and a staff of 215 people — relatively small by large ad agency standards. The Inc. 500 bases its rankings on companies’ 3-year revenue growth, and the 2005 3-year revenue growth for iCrossing was at 506.4%. Pretty impressive. That means that in 2002, iCrossing likely realized only approximately $5-$6 million. So why would a company on such a hot streak decide to part with its money and invest in a web development company? The answer: The SEM market is shrinking.
Ok, I know you may think I’m crazy — but hear me out. The main reason that a company acquires another company is to increase company value. Period. If an acquisition does not promise to increase value and show a return on investment, then why do it? In a services industry, like the SEM services industry, company value may be measured in a number of ways, including: a) total company revenues, b) backlog, c) assets (including process and other intellectual property) and d) sales potential."
"..in addition to the new revenue influx, iCrossing acquired Proxicom because it realizes that the SEM market is shrinking in the large-scale accounts. While there are a few major players, including iProspect and iCrossing, most large-scale companies today are already participating in SEM in multiple ways, either in-house or through an agency — there are not many, if any, large-scale companies who do not realize the value of SEM today. I don’t think iCrossing was able to penetrate new, large-scale accounts at the same rate as its glory days from 2002-2004 and has begun to realize that it needs a way to a) infiltrate large-scale companies and b) become an interactive agency of record for these accounts."
As the market for Search Marketing gets more saturated (and for every buck spent in online advertising 6 bucks is made for large retailers that have on site stores where you can buy what your researching online - Online Advertising increases in store purchases by 41% - Comscore) there's not as much room for SEM Agencies to grow.
Reading about Iceberg, a new development platform without programming that appears to be very powerful and has a free version - it's still in Beta and hasn't launched yet.
I'm wondering how Iceberg would be as a development platform to extend a Social Network….don't know. Not entirely sure what the limits of it are but I asked to try it out when it becomes available.
