1. Kiana Tennyson
DroidCon Berlin
April 2013
TRACKING USER BEHAVIOR CREATIVELY

2. WHO IS KIANA?
• Software Engineer – Manheim
• Highest volume operator of wholesale auto auctions in the world
• Professional background… web portals, data aggregation
• 2013 goal – contribute to an open source project (maybe WebRTC?)
• Occassional blogging… shecodes.blogspot.com
• Find me on twitter @kiaaaana

3. DISCLAIMER:
• IS a Feasibility Discussion
• NOT an Ethics Discussion
• NOT a Security Discussion
• Don’t go to jail, get sued or end up defamed
• Ultimately, let’s take care of our users (so they will pay us)

4. OVERVIEW
• Difference between Web Analytics and User Tracking
• Google Analytics
• Data Collection
• Data Transferal Strategy
• Data Querying using Core Reporting API

5. • Logging characteristics about the user
and the user’s actions
• More granular study than Web
Analytics
• Sticky subject!
• Public apps… highest priority ==
user permission
• Internal apps/corporate phones…
different rules apply
• Collection, analysis, reporting of
internet data
• Two categories – onsite and offsite
• Two data collection methods
• Log file analysis
• Page tagging
ANALTYICS VS USER TRACKING
Analytics User Tracking

6. INTERACTION TYPES
(CLASSIC AND ANDROID)
• Pageview Tracking
• ”Activity” (aka page) requests
• Essentially wherever requests for a new view is made
• Event Tracking
• Layout interactions initiated by user
• Ecommerce Tracking
• Track average transactions and in-app purchases
• Custom Variables, Dimensions, Metrics

7. PAGEVIEW TRACKING
public class TestPage extends Activity {!
@Override!
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {!
...!
GoogleAnalyticsTracker tracker = GoogleAnalyticsTracker.getInstance();!
tracker.startNewSession(“UA-XXXXX-YY”, this);!
TextView helpLink = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.helpLink);!
helpLink.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {!
@Override!
public void onClick(View view) {!
tracker.sendView(“/helpPage”);!
startActivity(new Intent(TestPage.this, HelpPage.class));!
}!
}!
}!
}!

8. EVENT TRACKING
public class VideoPage extends Activity {!
@Override!
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {!
...!
GoogleAnalyticsTracker tracker = GoogleAnalyticsTracker.getInstance();!
tracker.startNewSession(“UA-XXXXX-YY”, this);!
TextView videoLink = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.videoLink);!
videoLink.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {!
@Override!
public void onClick(View view) {!
tracker.sendEvent(“Videos”, “Play”, videoId, 0);!
//initiate video playback!
}!
}!
}!
}!

9. ECOMMERCE TRACKING
public class PurchasePage extends Activity {!
. . . !
public void onPurchaseConfirmed(Purchase purchase) {!
!
Transaction transaction = initTransaction(purchase);!
!
transaction.setStoreName(Constants.STORE_NAME);!
transaction.setShippingCost(purchase.getShippingCost());!
transaction.setTotalTax(purchase.getTotalTax());!
tracker.addTransaction(transaction);!
!
for(LineItem lineItem : purchase.getLineItems() {!
!tracker.addItem(createNewItemBuilder(purchase,lineItem).build()!
}!
tracker.sendTransactions();!
}!
}!
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3

10. CUSTOM VARIABLES
public class PurchasePage extends Activity {!
. . .!
public void onSubscriptionComplete(Subscription subscription) {!
boolean complete = subscriptionProcessor.process(subscription);!
if (complete) {!
//Track new subscription sold at session level!
tracker.setCustomVar(1, “New Subscription”, salesRepId, 2);!
trackTransaction(tracker, subscription);!
}!
listener.notify(subscription, complete);!
}!
!
!
index name value scope
(default page-level)

11. OTHER INTERACTION TYPES
• Social Interactions
• tracker.sendSocial(network, action, target)!
• Timings
• tracker.sendTimings(interval, category, name, label)!
• Custom Dimensions/Metrics
• tracker.setCustomDimension(index, scope)!

12. USER STORY
• Web Analytics and User Tracking tell a story about our user(s)

13. • Secure.ANDROID_ID (Has limitations)
• TelephonyManager
• getSimSerialNumber()
• getDeviceId()
• Build.Serial (Good for tablets)
• Company-assigned ID
• All tracking calls collect user info
• Metrics for Core Reporting API:
• ga:visitors
• ga:visitorType
• ga:source
• ga:userActivityHandle
WER (WHO)?
Google Analytics User Tracking

14. PII AND SPII
(SENSITIVE) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
• Full Name
• SSN
• Driver’s License #
• License Plate #
• Birthplace
• Credit card numbers
• Digital Identity (gray area)
• Date of Birth
• IP Address (sometimes)

15. • Logging app usage via Singletons or
local db inserts
• Define start and end points
• Strategy determined by UI
• Multiple Activity Structure –
activity lifecycle drawbacks
• Single Activity/Multi Fragment –
lifecycle benefits
• Data Collection – Event Tracking
• Reporting – Engagement Report type
• Querying for:
• ga:pageViews, ga:timeOnPage
• MultiChannel Funnels
• Reports created from sequences
of interactions leading to
conversion or transaction
WAS (WHAT)?
Google Analytics User Tracking

16. • Log system time when user makes
important action
• Time zone issues – log in UTC
• Log start/end of session
• Depending on UI structure, determine
“session times”
• Submit data group when session is
complete, or at end of dispatch period
• No metrics correlating time and user
activity
• Dimensions (ga:timeOnSite,
ga:visitLength, ga:timeOnPage())
• Answer “when are users most likely to
…?”
• Use a page level custom variable
• tracker.setCustomVar(!
s, “Time ItemPurchase”,
dateTime.toString(), 3) !
WANN (WHEN)?
Google Analytics User Tracking

17. • Log location with android.location
package
• Choose best algorithm for selecting
location
• Trade-off between killing user’s
battery and accuracy
• Once location received, hold on until
ready to send with other tracking data
• No metrics to correlate geolocation to
activity
• Dimensions exist; collected from IP
Address during HTTP Requests
• ga:continent down to ga:latitude/
longitude, etc
WO (WHERE)?
Google Analytics User Tracking

18. • Subjective question; no concrete method to answer “Why” a user uses your
app
• Align app goals with with user’s actions
• Accept your app’s purpose to the user to fully realize its potential
WARUM (WHY)?
Google Analytics AND User Tracking

19. GA DATA COLLECTION
Google
Analytics
Tracker
Event (Hit)
SQLLite
Database
Network
Dispatcher
Dispatch
Handler
AsyncDispatch
Task
Pipelined
Requestor
Http
Connection
Callbacks
(start)
(end)

20. USER TRACKING DATA COLLECTION
• Write a Custom ContentProvider and SyncAdapter
• Requires user permission (removing your liability)
• Handles network availability, scheduling and interrupts

21. APP REPORT CATEGORIES
• Acquisitions
• How your app is found/downloaded/installed
• Users (who, where, when)
• Info about people using your app and their devices
• Engagement (what)
• Ways people use your app
• Outcomes (why)
• Track targeted objectives with goals, ecommerce

22. SAMPLE QUERY
(CORE REPORTING API)
https://www.google.com/analytics/feeds/data
?ids=12345
&dimensions=ga:customVarValue5
&metrics=ga:visits
&filters=ga:daysSinceLastVisit%3E%3D5
&start-date=2012-11-23
&end-date=2012-12-07
&max-results=50
(Where customVarValue5 == salesRepId)
Select visits, customVarValue5 from 12345 where daysSinceLastVisit <= 5 and startDate =>
‘2012-11-23’ and endDate <= ‘2012-12-07’ group by customVarValue5 limit 0, 50

23. COMPARED TO SQL
GA
Query
Metrics Dim.
Profile
ID Filters
SQL
QuerySelect
Col.
Group
By
From
(Table)
Where

24. WRAP UP
• Mobile devices are quickly becoming one of the most commonly used personal computers
• Understand the boundaries of user privacy
• Protect our users; they keep us in business J

25. QUESTIONS?
Thank you….