A great summary of the history of web analytics by Jeff Young

1. History of Web Analytics
technology as
organizational change agent
by Jeff Young
ca.linkedin.com/in/jeffdyoung/

2. History of Web Analytics – page 2
Learning Objectives – upon completion of this
module, students will have a fuller
understanding of the historical organizational
trends and data-collection tool changes that
have made the study of Web Analytics what it
is today.

3. History of Web Analytics – page 3
• The history of Web Analytics is also the history
of tracking methods which caused an
organizational shift of power
• Web data – and the customer knowledge
contained there – was unleashed through the
evolutionary path from server logs to page
tagging
• This change was organizational as well as
technological

4. History of Web Analytics – page 4
• Server logs have been in use since
servers were first powered up
• Server logs – and access (physical and
password) to the servers themselves –
was controlled primarily by the
Information Technology (I.T.)
department

5. History of Web Analytics – page 5
This made I.T. the gatekeepers and
conservators of web data by default,
but they were often not aware of the
value of such data

6. History of Web Analytics – page 6
• “Most IT departments are overworked as a result
of supporting infrastructure and workstations and
don’t have the time to devote attention to the
company web site nor should they take on all
these responsibilities.”
Michael Reynolds, President and CEO of SpinWeb
http://www.spinweb.net/blog/the-it-department-
does-not-handle-your-website/

7. History of Web Analytics – page 7
• Web Analytics’ history began with server log analysis, and the first
commercial vendors (such as WebTrends) appeared in 1993-4
• Page tagging followed in 1995-6 with pioneering firms such as
Nedstat
• In 1997, “household(s) with Internet use at home” constituted only
18% of U.S. homes , and establishing a corporate presence was still
an internal debate – I was working at an ISP in those early & heady
days, and remember the dinner party where an acquaintance
turned and asked me if it was ‘just a fad’

8. History of Web Analytics – page 8
• But by 2000, that U.S. “household with Internet use at home” number had
increased to over 41%, and the rising trend was undeniable
(http://www.census.gov/hhes/computer/)
• And the limitations of server logs were also becoming apparent, given the
surging datasets available: “By the year 2000, web analytics vendors were
struggling with web server logs as optimal sources of data and JavaScript
tags emerged as a new standard for collecting data from websites.
JavaScript log files are easier to maintain than web server log files and
their use shifts the responsibility of collecting and processing data from
internal company IT departments to web analytics vendors in most cases.”
Damian Davila (http://idaconcpts.com/2008/11/26/a-brief-history-of-web-
analytics/)

9. History of Web Analytics – page 9
“these early metrics measured basic user
interactions, they’re now considered
rudimentary because they don’t show
customer intent.”
Adam Metz
(http://thesocialconcept.com/metzmash/know-
your-social-web-history/)

10. History of Web Analytics – page 10
• What server logs and page tags could do was still
being learned, and debated.
• “In 2003, it was every bit as exciting and still just
a bit naive. We were all hoping that all of the
answers to all of our problems would tumble out
of these wonderful new web analytics tools. The
focus was "Page Tags vs. Log Files". The
discussion was heated. New technologies were
emerging in real time…” Jim Sterne
(https://www.emetrics.org/history.php)

11. History of Web Analytics – page 11
• The transition from server logs was slow, due to:
– Lack of early recognition by IT and Marketing of the
advantages of web analytics (whether logs or tags)
– The IT gatekeeper effect
– Lack of early recognition by Marketing of the
advantages of page tagging over server logs
– Lack of corporate awareness and support, which led
to the conundrum a few years later when attempting
to calculate the ROI of the pricy new corporate web
presence

12. History of Web Analytics – page 12
“Over time, marketers starting thinking of ways they could use
this data if they had better access to Web analytics.“
“They started asking the understaffed IT department about
getting certain types of data…but they didn't really know how
to get answers or insight out of it.”
“Marketers grew frustrated by not being able to get what they
needed. At the same time, tools from companies now named
Omniture and WebSideStory came out with ASP models that
took the reliance off IT, the servers, and log file processing
issues.”
“Suddenly interested marketers could go to one of those
companies, have some basic tags placed on the site, and get
more accurate data.”
Jason Burby
(http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1714938/who-should-own-web-
analytics)

13. History of Web Analytics – page 13
The differing departmental philosophies
contributed to an eventual corporate realization:
“Often, you have marketing guys that need one set of data and the
IT guys who want another set of data. The IT guys are concerned
with things such as, “How can we handle increased server load?”
and “Do we need to upgrade our hosting?” when looking at log
files. The Marketing guys are more like, “I don’t care, I want to know
how people are moving around my site.” They’re are focused on
JavaScript-based analytics packages.”
Matt Peterson
(http://www.aimclearblog.com/2011/03/25/the-ancient-geek-
history-of-web-analytics/)

14. History of Web Analytics – page 14
• Control over web page tracking shifted, as Marketing,
webmasters and web teams could tag their own pages
• IT did not disappear from the picture, but rather
transitioned:
“IT is key player as it is needed for all technical aspects such as hosting and
maintenance of the Web Analytics infrastructure (if you are hosting your
solution – not the most common set-up), definition of the
technical/tagging specification based on business requirements,
implementation of the measurement code in your CMS, websites and
online applications. And if you integrate your Web data with other systems
(BI, CRM...), IT is the one that defines and implements the required
architecture & technology.”
Michael Notté
(http://www.kaizen-analytics.com/2009/07/web-analytics-where-should-it-sit-in.html)

15. History of Web Analytics – page 15
So is Marketing the right place in the organization for Web
Analytics to reside?
“After a lot of experimentation and failures I have come to
realize that often Marketing is the best organization for Web
Analytics to be in. It is optimal because Marketing is in the
business of raising awareness, connecting with customers,
presenting the company's value proposition etc etc. “
Avinash Kaushik
(http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/owns-web-analytics-
framework-critical-thinking/)

16. History of Web Analytics – page 16
Is the Finance Department an alternative?
“A third party isn't influenced to spin positive results. This is a big one. You
want to know what's really happening on the Web channel, not what a
Web analyst does to "analyze" the data to tell a good story. However, if
goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) are defined correctly, it
becomes much harder to twist the data and site performance. No matter
where analytics reports are, you must lock down how you measure success
to avoid this.”
“It's easier to identify financial impact of Web initiatives. We always look
to monetize all the key site behaviors online, not just e-commerce
behaviors. Working closely with finance is always key to doing this.
Reporting to it would make this even easier.”
Jason Burby
(http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1716031/who-should-own-
analytics-part-two)

17. History of Web Analytics – page 17
What is the future of Web Analytics within the organization?
“Through all of these phases, the primary frustration of today’s analyst still hasn’t been
addressed. How do we get business owners and managers to “get it”?”
“The answer: web analysts become the business owners and managers.”
“This will be a natural transition for today’s web analysts, not a hostile takeover.
Consider what training they have already received to be effective managers and
business owners. They already have battle scars to prove that they can work across
multiple disciplines, that they understand the broader business objectives and that they
can manage others to optimize their company’s efforts. They already have shown the
gumption to pick up and learn new skills and go outside of their comfort zone to get
things done.”
Cameron Alverson
(http://www.optimizationtoday.com/web-analytics/articles/future-of-
the-web-analyst/)

18. History of Web Analytics – page 18
What is the future of the Web Analytics tools
within the organization?
“But as much as I love Google Analytics for what it does, I am also willing to be
honest about what it does not do and what it is not. Google Analytics alone is
simply not enough for truly sophisticated web analytics.”
“I believe that we are about to see an increasing number of companies in the
coming year drop their paid vendor’s “basic solution” in favor of Google Analytics
and, at the same time, seriously consider adding their vendor’s high-end offering.”
Eric T. Peterson
(http://blog.webanalyticsdemystified.com/weblog/2010/02/the-coming-
bifurcation-in-web-analytics-tools.html)

19. History of Web Analytics – page 19
Learning Activity
- visit your corporate website, and identify your visit
in your analytics package(s).
- can you view your visit via both server log and page
tag outputs?

20. History of Web Analytics – page 20
For Discussion
Server logs may report ‘hits’ – why are hits generally
not used in web analytics reporting? Are hits ever
useful?
What department should host web analytics? Or
should it be its own department?

21. History of Web Analytics – page 21
Evaluation
Based on discussion involvement.