When does Web Analytics also involved datamining?  I think, more and more, it does involve digging into the data to find patterns.  More or less, the same tools we use to analyze traffic flow, conversion rates, scenario analysis also drive datamining customer databases, warranty reports, police reports and crime statistics - and these lead to real changes and improvement in quality of life - according to a New York Times article published today.

"…The technology, for example, pointed to a high rate of robberies on paydays in Hispanic neighborhoods, where fewer people use banks and where customers leaving check-cashing stores were easy targets for robbers. Elsewhere, there were clusters of random-gunfire incidents at certain times of night. So extra police were deployed in those areas when crimes were predicted.

The crime rate in Richmond declined about 20 percent last year, and it is down again this year."

Could it be the drop in crime, overall, in the United States, and in particular, in cities like New York, is due to the application of Analytics Datamining?   I mean, we are hearing stuff like the number of murders in NYC is down by almost 50% from what it was at the same time last year.   Could it be that part of the reason for this are police departments are getting better at predicting where crimes will happen and, either prevent / thwart them, or minimize the damage by being on-scene as they happen?

Could it be that the 80/20 rule (or the 90/10 rule) that 80% or 90% of a problem or issue is caused by 10% or 20% or even 1% and if you can predict much of that element - you can significantly reduce the perception and reality of that issue?

I think that's one aspect of it and it's interesting that - in a way, Web Analytics is really a sister / brother to this kind of analysis yet it's not really part of any of the analytics we have at EMetrics - as we're focused on Websites and not really doing all that much predictive analysis.  But maybe….it should be part of the next Emetrics Summits - and maybe - Web Analytics needs to move more in the direction of solving problems outside a clients Marketing and Brand issues:

"…The results, says Jon M. Kleinberg, a computer scientist at Cornell University, are a “revolution in measurement” and the “introduction of computing and algorithmic processes into the social sciences in a big way.” The phenomenon is strikingly evident in economics, business and crime prevention."

What would be closer to Web Analytics is the information modeling work being done inside corporations:

"..tracking e-mail traffic, instant messages and other digital communications — stripped of personally identifiable information — he and other researchers are beginning to study the flow of work and ideas through the social networks inside companies — minute by minute, bit by bit.

“We’re really on the cusp of being able to understand what goes on inside corporations in a much more scientific way than ever before,” he said. “It’s similar to the way that the microscope opened up biology in the 17th century, so that you could see blood cells. Now, we can start to see bits of information as they flow through the organism of the corporation.”

But if it's not happening in your company - don't blame it on the technology or the workers - blame it on management that doesn't "get it" yet:

"…The entry barrier, he says, “is no longer technology, but whether you have executives who understand this.”

I have to admit - most of the resistance I have experienced, it terms of improving Web Analytics - not to mention data mining, is from middle and upper level management  unable to realize the opportunities they have in front of them, or communicate it effectively.  The technology, itself, is no longer much of an issue.