Google Analytics has become the norm nowadays for monitoring website performance but I believe it has some vital functionality lacking, which I would appreciate it had. Others may feel the same.
Basically, why doesn’t GA have a simple option to list the last 10/50/100 visitors to a website? In other words, why doesn’t it have the option to list at least the referrer and location of the last 10/50/100 hits just as was the case in the late 90’s in various free, usually javascript based counters?
Sometimes you just want to log in and view what’s coming in from where, plain and simple. GA is good if you want to go analysing website performance history but is under par when it comes to monitoring real/current data.
Is there really no option to enable such a feature in GA? Must we use at least two different website counters (GA + 3rd party alternative)?
QA relies on JavaScript to capture information about visitors to the page. It therefore captures no info whatever regarding visitors with JavaScript disabled and can only capture information that is available through JavaScript.
The sort of information you are asking for can’t be captured that way but can be fairly easily obtained from the server logs and so web stats that work off the server logs can provide that info far more easily and accurately than the QA JavaScript could (for the small part of the info that is available to JavaScript).
Most ISP’s give fixed IP addresses, not dynamic ones (unless you use dial-up). I did a study a while back on various ISP’s for an article and if you use DSL broadband, it’s very likely you’ll be assigned one IP address (and as many people run their own home based servers, clearly the IP assigned to you goes to YOU, not to your ISP). As for being non-identifiable, that’s also wrong… if a hacker wants to penetrate a machine via back-doors from Trojans or other mediums, they’ll connect to the IP and try port sniffing for an open place they can activate the bad software. This kind of mechanism can only exist if the user of the IP address remains the SINGLE and SOLE user of that IP. Half of what you said is entirely incorrect and the other half of the argument exists ONLY on the premise that the info may get into the wrong hands.
As for your claim about there being no way to opt out, that’s a totally bogus claim too, turn off JavaScript. It’s not hard, there’s tools like NoScript which can do it… without JavaScript none of those stats packages can seek your computer information (except your IP and the pages accessed from the server logs). Yes you control who is entitled to what information, and by visiting someone else’s website you give them permission (visiting is legally considered consent for the action of accessing the media with the exchange of data). Honestly for someone who uses the web a lot, it’s surprising to me your unaware of how it works
An IP address is not personal information unless you have the money to own a dedicated IP or a block of IPs. The IP will always point to the ISP which may change which users have it or may have dozens of users behind depending on the size of the ISP.
Maybe I would agree but I cannot until there is an opt-out. I have no desire being part of the study groups. Until then, the only information that is being sent from my computer is an IP and the user agent string (which is the same as thousands of other users.) No referrer (even forged sometimes), no Google Analytics along with others. Don’t like it? Tuff, I control who is entitled to what information not the site owner.
They are not fixed, you may have the same IP for a while but it is not fixed (again unless you pay for a static IP from your ISP). Mine has changed several times though out the years (I’m on cable). Each time I have to update OpenDNS with the new IP.
I did a study a while back…
How far “a while back”?
…on various ISP’s for an article and if you use DSL broadband, it’s very likely you’ll be assigned one IP address (and as many people run their own home based servers, clearly the IP assigned to you goes to YOU, not to your ISP).
The IP goes to your ISP, the ISP then routes the traffic from that IP though its networks and down to your house. There is also no guarantee that IP is always going to be tied to your account, unless you bought a plan from your ISP for a static IP. Static IPs are expensive in today’s market. IPv4 is running out of space, becoming scarce. The only reason we are still using IPv4 is thanks in part to NAT.
As for being non-identifiable, that’s also wrong… if a hacker wants to penetrate a machine via back-doors from Trojans or other mediums, they’ll connect to the IP and try port sniffing for an open place they can activate the bad software.
And the IP holds this information how? First a hacker must compromise the network (if the user has one) or the computer to get any kind of data. Are you saying web site tracking software is doing this?
This kind of mechanism can only exist if the user of the IP address remains the SINGLE and SOLE user of that IP.
Which is not guaranteed (again requires purchasing a static IP from your ISP) with the declining space of IPv4. Second there can be dozens of users behind a single point of connection thanks to NAT. For example, here in my home there is at least four different people connected to the same internet connection. Schools and other facilities with internet connection computers would also be behind a single connection.
Half of what you said is entirely incorrect and the other half of the argument exists ONLY on the premise that the info may get into the wrong hands.
I could say the same about your own.
As for your claim about there being no way to opt out, that’s a totally bogus claim too
Bogus? I think not. There is no opt-out link, there is no don’t track me setting. Hell at least email news letters have an unsubscribe link, why is there not one for this?
without JavaScript none of those stats packages can seek your computer information
Nor the sites, that is a ridiculous solution.
by visiting someone else’s website you give them permission (visiting is legally considered consent for the action of accessing the media with the exchange of data).
I’ll like you to prove that statement. So if I visit a website I gave them permission to access my medical records?
The document referrer header is a free format field that is completely under the control of the individual visitor. Most web browsers and firewalls now blank out that field so as to protect the privacy of their owner. The information isn’t available unless your visitor decides to let you know what it is and if they don’t want to blank it out then they can set it to anything at all and you still will not know where they came from.
Awstats is supposed to be one of the most accurate stats programs available. Even webalizer is more accurate than GA.
I wish Google Analytics showed the URL sources (by default) of where traffic came from, it would be useful for me to better assist my users.
That’s a silly statement. People aren’t trying to track YOU as an individual (well not unless you hand over your personal information), the whole point of statistics software is to provide browsing habits of the collective (hence why it’s called statistics, not psychological profiles!). Why do we want to know a few things about our users… how about when the Analytics software reports that someone tried to access a page that no longer exists, it let’s you know what page they were on and you can track down as fix the dead link, or how about what browsers people use so you can give “special support” if it’s required for older platforms or mobile devices (it helps justify the cost) or how about country of origin (so you can produce localised language translations based on popularity) or how about tracking where people click on the page to better improve the design in the future so it’s easier to use (you can do some rudimentary usability testing through eye tracking stats for example). Or how about where they found your website through referral links, so you can better understand what your users may be looking for? Need me to go on? There’s a very REAL need for the information, and it’s collection allows websites to better meet the needs of it’s end users.
You may not like the idea that people are collecting information about how people use the website but guess what… the server logs will snag just as much information by default (like your IP address - which will reveal country of origin, potential ISP, et al)… and we’re largely required to keep such information for security reasons. If you don’t want people knowing information about you, don’t bother browsing the Internet, web servers require personal information (such as your IP address) in order to send the page you requested to your machine. If we have no rights to request that information then you have no rights to receive it (as the servers would have no-where to direct the traffic). In regards to Analytics software I fail to see any justification for why people shouldn’t know about things like referral URL’s, how people use the website and general anonymous stats about their device for accessing the web, especially considering it’s what primarily motivates people to make their websites usable for the general public and without such information, you wouldn’t have the web as evolved as it is today. Being against such data being collected is not only counter productive against the way the Internet works, it’s always complained about by people who are unhappy about giving the information but want all the benefits that giving the information would offer. It’s totally hypocritical to wish to use the web and not want general data on sessions to be recorded.
Correct me if I’m wrong but if we cast out minds back to circa 1997-2000 when the commercial/consumer Internet was just kicking off (and boy weren’t those days fun) didn’t free services back in those days such as www.thecounter.com (I think this was the domain) also use JS and yet could report the referrer without problem?
Back then everything was JS or ActiveX DLL based if my mind serves me correctly and it worked. Okay, I think I remember OCX’s being in there too before anyone even heard the .NET buzz.
Do you recommended any advanced website monitoring alternatives to GA?
Since that functionality requires server side scripting installed on your web server and all that you have from Google is a link to some JavaScript on their server it is the equivalent of suggesting that at night someone has the sun hidden in their pocket.
Since each stats program has to make various assumptions about the data it is examining the only way to get anything meaningful is to compare three or four stats programs. Each will have made different assumptions and the average of them should be nearer the truth than any one will be.
This is particularly necessary where one of them is GA since GA completely ignores the 5-10% of your visitors without JavaScript.
How would they apply a hybrid solution? Since their script runs on their site and not yours it doesn’t have access to anything without using JavaScript.
There are plenty of different stats scripts you can install on your own hosting that will provide you with a variety of different sets of stats to compare based on various intepretations of your server log. Google would need to compete with those if they were to release a stats program that works that way plus if they did then they’d get nothing out of it as none of the stats info collected and interpreted that way ever leaves your site and so Google wouldn’t get to see it the way they can with the GA stats.
Thanks for your reply. In such case wouldn’t it be time for GA to deploy a hybrid solution? …or is this another case of two big to care too much syndrome? Having to use at least two competing website counters (monitors) isn’t ideal.
GA is free, okay, but it’s not as if Google isn’t benefiting, all this website traffic monitoring data they get only helps them with search results.
I’m not up to date with the various technological variants this could employ to get the job done. Nevertheless if Google wanted to they could find a solution, they’ve had other services developed that couldn’t be otherwise made with off the shelf solutions so I trust such a bespoke approach is possible here too.
The truth is that probably GA already has such functionality yet merely hides it from view. They’re already hiding displaying all the backlinks to a site, which is widely known.
Knowing the referrer is more valuable information then say knowing what city/town someone arrived from on a website, unless of course I’m targeting an ethnic minority and offline statistics prove a large population there is of the ethnicity I’m after.
Well maybe that’s the state where you are, but I’ve had a fixed IP (with my current ISP) ever since I signed up with them and it didn’t cost me anything more than a dynamic IP with my Internet connection. Admittedly when I studied it, it was a while ago so perhaps things have changed due to the lack of IP’s to go around, however I’m not claiming website tracking software is “doing that”. The whole use of the hacker ideology was to show that while the IP itself may not be as personal as you would consider it, it could technically be used to gain personal information (thereby I consider it part of that meaningful data).
PS: Using straw man arguments like “right to access medical data” won’t get you much of a response, information from Analytics software is in no way that personal.
As for being able to opt-out, I know from past legal cases that people are meant to (by law) state that their website tracks users activities (the same goes for cookies) but from cases where people have attempted to sue based on the website gathering the info from Analytics software, the case (that they had the right to not be “tracked”) in every instance was rejected (there was a whole debate on the issue a while back on some podcasts I listen too). Again perhaps things may have changed since some data protection laws have been amended but In regards to being able to opt out from being tracked… the information collected is anonymous in most cases (Google strip individual information from their package so you can only get numbers), I don’t see there being any justified reason to object.
PS: Claiming it’s a ridiculous solution doesn’t fit in my eyes, a workable method does exist, you just don’t happen to like it, not anyone’s problem but yours.
Knowing where users come from is a way of determining what type of user they are. With this knowledge more content can be added to the website that suits these users. As a result, knowing the exact referrer (not just domain) is a way to know what topics they’re interested in more often than not. In essence part of SEO just like watching what keywords Google Analytics displays for user visits, also a good source to expand content using these keywords for even more exposure.
Items such as your name, age, education etc. aren’t collected and quite frankly for website owners it’s not something they could use anyway (well, if we stick to the white market that is but most website owners are honest and don’t resell user data).
When you buy a product you want to learn as much as you can about it before parting with your cash, especially if its a high priced item. The same goes for website owners, to better serve you they must acquire information about you to tune your online experience.
There will always be those who exploit user information.
User tracking was available way before the Internet took off anyway. Some nations even had ID cards alongside passports, others are introducing them in the near future. Somehow people weren’t paranoid about it then as they seem to be now.
It is bad enough everyone is trying to track us on the web. But let me ask you. Why do you need to know where your users have been? Do you honestly think you are entitled to the information? Or any information about the visitors to your site?
