Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /traffic-analysis/

Google Analytics Launches Social Reports Tool

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:13:00 GMT

Google has launched Social reports for Google Analytics to help website owners better quantify the value of social channels, and understand the traffic being directed to and away from a site.

The new tools will help users "identify the full value of traffic" and "measure how they lead to direct conversions", which Google says will lead to more efficient data-driven decisions. Features like the 'Overview Report' enable its users to monitor traffic going to and from social sights and how they affect conversions.

"The Overview report allows the user to see at a glance how much conversion value is generated from your social channels. The Social Value visualization compares the number and monetary value of all your goal completions against those that resulted from social referrals - both as last interaction, and assisted."Google product manager Phil Mui wrote on the Google Analytics blog.

The tool also enables it's users to calculate ROI on social media activities not just by monitoring keywords and buzz, but by showing how investments in different social channels leads to sales and business objectives through the Social Engagement report, Social Actions report, and Social Interaction Tracking.

"Although social is growing in popularity, brand websites - not social networks - remain the place where people most often purchase or convert," Mui said.

While other social media tracking analytics tools - such as Google's +1s, which automatically tracks Facebook Likes, Unlikes, Shares and Tweets - already exist, Social Tracking is ideal for businesses that want to measure the use of social media and also track wikis, blogs, video and photo sharing websites and forums.

"Since social media is often an upper funnel player in a shopper's journey, it's not always easy to determine which social channels actually drive value for your business and which tactics are most effective," Mui said.

"You can use this information to create more of the type of content that's popular with your visitors, and test different layouts of social sharing buttons to improve use by your community."

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Twitter unlocks its archives for market research

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:25:00 GMT

Twitter has partnered with DataSift to offer market researchers the opportunity to analyse Twitter updates dating back up to two years.

Until now, companies only had access to a 30-day archive, while users can only access posts from the last week.

DataSift's new platform - called Historics - allows companies to use past public Tweets to gather user data, which can then be filtered for demographic information, sentiment and online influence, among other things.

Twitter accounts that have been set to private or have been deleted will not be indexed.

"No-one's ever done this before," DataSift marketing manager Tim Barker told the BBC.

"It's a brand new service that we're bringing online - it's a massive technology challenge because of the amount of data that is pumped out every single day."

While the company has billed the platform as a way for companies to predict future events and harness online discussions, critics have been quick to raise privacy concerns.

"People have historically used Twitter to communicate with friends and networks in the belief that their tweets will quickly disappear into the ether," Privacy International executive director Gus Hosein told the BBC.

"The fact that two years' worth of tweets can now be mined for information and the resulting 'insights' sold to businesses is a radical shift in the wrong direction.

"Twitter has turned a social network that was meant to promote real-time global conversation into a vast market-research enterprise with unwilling, unpaid participants."

Responding to potential privacy concerns, Mr Barker said: "The thing with Twitter that it was always created to be a public social network - which isn't the case with Facebook which is more of a blended model.

"Twitter has been public from day one. I don't see that this creates any new dilemmas because this information is being pushed out socially right now."

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Pinterest catches up to social networks with referral traffic

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:12:00 GMT

Pinterest is the fastest growing referral site on the net, eclipsing the likes of YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+, according to new stats released by Shareaholic.

"According to our findings based on aggregated data from more than 200,000 publishers that reach more than 260 million unique monthly visitors each month, Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google Plus, Linkedin and YouTube combined," head of marketing Janet Aronica wrote on the Shareaholic blog.

The virtual pinboard lets users gather and organise things they find on the web, sharing them with other users on the site.

Users can add photos to their own pinboards, as well as browse other users and discover new things based on interests including clothing, food and interior design.

"Pinterest grew from 2.5 per cent of referral traffic in December to 3.6 per cent of the referrals in January. That's impressive growth from just owning 0.17 per cent of the traffic back in July," Aronica said.

In just six months, the invite-only site has jumped ahead of Google+, MySpace, Reddit YouTube and LinkedIn - coming up against traffic driving titans like Facebook and StumbleUpon.

In contrast, Twitter accounts for 3.61 per cent of referral traffic while Google accounts for 3.62. Unsurprisingly, Facebook is the top traffic driver at 26.4 per cent, followed by StumbleUpon with 5.07 per cent.

Though still leagues away from the top traffic driver, Pinterest received 4000 per cent more visitors than six months prior - earning it the title of 'Number 10 social networking-site' - and if growth continues, Pinterest will soon be one of the top three traffic drivers on the net.

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Siri a data-hungry virtual assistant

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:36:00 GMT

Apple's virtual assistant Siri is doubling data intake on the iPhone 4S, a new study finds.

When compared with its predecessors, network firm Arieso found iPhone 4S users are crunching twice as much data as iPhone 4 users, and three times as much as iPhone 3G users.

The culprit, according to Arieso, is Siri - which makes use of the web to help users do everything from check the weather to find local restaurants and send emails and texts.

iPhone 4S users are utilizing Apple's virtual assistant to do more, and as a result, eating more data in the process. Further, the iPhone regularly syncs content with Apple's servers, also contributing to the data binge.

"The introduction of increasingly sophisticated devices, coupled with growing consumer demands, is creating unrelenting pressure on mobile networks," Arieso Chief Technology Officer Michael Flanagan said.

"The capacity crunch is still a very real threat for mobile operators, and it looks set to only get harder in 2012. The mobile industry needs new investment and new approaches to boost network performance and manage the customer experience."

As more smartphone users choose their mobiles to download music, surf the web, and send emails, operators are feeling the strain on their mobile networks, with many moving towards consumption-based or tiered billing to help maintain the integrity and capacity of the network.

Even so, the iPhone 4S owners aren't the only data frenzied users - Arieso also found smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S, HTC Desire S and Sony Ericsson Xperia all have "very hungry handset users".

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Population growth dominates Facebook's newsfeed

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:12:00 GMT

Facebook has revealed its list of top ten most-mentioned news stories of 2011 in the UK, with a BBC story concerning global population growth.

In addition to the number one article, other newsworthy topics included the UK riots, the Royal Wedding and The Only Way Is Essex.

The social networking giant put together the list by counting the number of clicks on its site for stories posted from the UK's top media outlets. These articles can have appeared as shared items, wall posts or likes.

Coming in at second place was the Sun's story about a woman who received a tattoo with a scatological theme from her boyfriend for cheating on him. Other popular articles came from the Guardian and Daily Mail newspapers.

As for talk and comments on news topics, the Royal Wedding topped the chart. Kate Middleton was the most mentioned person when talking of the event and more than one million people logged on to the site to discuss her royal walk down the aisle.

However, Facebook say the conversations surrounding the year's big events were not just confined to simple chatter - many used the network to organise their communities' response in cleaning up their area after the violence and looting that occurred in English cities during the summer.

"People continued to turn to Facebook in the aftermath of the riots to organise their communities to come together for the clean-up - the two biggest groups set up to motivate operations and rally positively against the riots were huge with over 600,000 fans," the company said in a statement.

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Chrome closes in on Firefox

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:49:00 GMT

Chrome may soon have the upper hand in the browser wars, as the Mountain View browser closes in on Mozilla's Firefox.

According to Net Applications latest worldwide browser usage measurements, Chrome is only 4 per cent behind Firefox - which dropped in popularity by 2 per cent since January.

Stiff competition from both Internet Explorer and Chrome have caused the popular browser's numbers to flag this year - Firefox numbers slipped 0.4 per cent while Chrome inched forward 0.7 per cent.

Firefox and Chrome now account for 22.1 per cent and 18.2 per cent respectively - compared to Internet Explorer which holds a clear lead with more than 50 per cent of the browser market under its belt.

"Firefox once was the prime challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which for years languished in the doldrums of software development. Now it shares that role with Chrome and, to a lesser degree, Apple's Safari," said Cnet's Steven Shankland.

While Internet Explorer remains in the lead with a 52.6 per cent share of the market, Microsoft is working to develop Internet Explorer to a high degree once more; with IE9 being considered a very creditable browser and IE10 anticipated to be another quality release.

After declining in popularity for many years - though still maintaining the lion's share of the market - IE's market share turned around in November and has started to increase slowly.

However, if Chrome continues steady growth at this rate, then the browser landscape could be somewhat different in a couple of years - in January Chrome held an 11.5 per cent market share - a number that has jumped to 18 per cent in less than a year.

As the gap between Chrome and Firefox continues to close, users could soon see the race for top browser heating up even further as the industry's best browsers go head-to-head for top spot.

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World War Tech: EU to tighten web privacy laws

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:36:00 GMT

Proposed legal changes to the European Union's Data Protection Directive may cause trans-Atlantic tensions over Internet privacy.

According to the New York Times, European justice commissioner Viviane Reding plans to insert new wording into Europe's main data privacy law that would likely require non-E.U. companies to abide by stricter rules on data collection or face fines and prosecution.

Ms Reding signalled her intentions to strengthen privacy laws in a speech to publishers in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Companies who direct their services to European consumers should be subject to E.U. data protection laws. Otherwise, they should not be able to do business on our internal market," she said.

"This also applies to social networks with users in the E.U. We have to make sure that they comply with E.U. law and that E.U. law is enforced, even if it is based in a third country and even if its data are stored in a 'cloud.'"

Proposed changes won't come as welcome news to U.S. web giants like Google and Facebook, who have been criticised for storing and retaining logs of personal data after user deletion.

Lobbyists the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union previously submitted a 42-page brief to European lawmakers arguing against enacting undue privacy restrictions that could inhibit the free flow of information.

"AmCham E.U. would like to caution against an attempt to address all the societal challenges of the 'right to be forgotten' exclusively through creation of unjustified obligations on data controllers and processors," according to the chamber's document.

It went on to warn that stricter data protection laws "would inevitably lead to a general obligation to monitor the Internet, undermining the strong foundations on which the Internet was developed in the first place and the basis on which democratic societies operate."

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Popular TV shows prompt Tweeting frenzy

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:12:00 GMT

A YouGov report has found that more than three quarters of adults use some form of additional media while watching television.

The Social TV Trends Report found that of the 2,025 internet users questioned, 76 per cent amused themselves with a games console, the radio or internet whilst watching television. The results are an increase on last year's 58 per cent tally, and indicate TV watching could be becoming a more collective experience, with everyone wanting to get their opinion out there.

The research discovered that 43 per cent of British adults commented on or discussed TV shows they were watching using Twitter, Facebook and other websites, and mobile phones. The 18 to 24 demographic proved most active, with 68 per cent of the age group joining in on online chatter via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Despite the generation gap, a quarter of over 55s were also using the web to make their opinions heard.

According to the study, TV shows such as X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Glee provoked the greatest flurries of online activity in the UK. Twitter analysis on behalf of the BBC News website and found that X Factor yielded the highest number of comments on the micro-blogging site over a 30 day period.

"Louis Walsh is looking consistently bewildered. Like an old man wandering around a geriatric ward that can't find his bed," one X Factor viewer tweeted.

The findings may simply be an extension of chatter that has surrounded popular TV shows for years. Families are still enjoying the age-old Saturday and Sunday night tradition of gathering around the TV, "but we're tweeting at the same time," mother, Caitlin Moran told the BBC.

"As we evolve, we have gained the ability to both live tweet amusing comments to our peers and friends and still engage our children in a conversation."

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Active Google+ users drops by 60pc

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:49:00 GMT

According to new figures released by data analytics company Chitika, social networking newcomer Google+ has lost 60 per cent of active users since it launched to the general public in late September.

After an impressive 1,200 per cent increase in traffic over the first few days following its public launch, numbers have since slumped.

"The data shows that, on the day of its public debut, Google+ traffic skyrocketed to peak levels. But, soon after, traffic fell by over 60 per cent as it returned to its normal, underwhelming state. It would appear that although high levels of publicity were able to draw new traffic to Google+, few of them saw reason to stay," Gabe Donnini from Chitika said.

However, looking at the numbers from a different perspective paints a different picture. While Chitika reports a 60 per cent decline in traffic, Forbes contributor Time Worstall took a second look at the numbers, calculating this decline from the initial 1,200 per cent surge, which ultimately, still translates to a 480 per cent increase in traffic.

Despite being one of the fastest-growing social networks of all time - with a reported 25 million unique visitors in its first month - industry insiders speculate that most users simply want to see what all the fuss is about.

It's not all bad though - at last unofficial count there were around 43 million users on Google+ and its sleek, inventive design and privacy policy continues to garner praise from critics.

The site also continues to pull out all the stops, with new features released practically every other day, and the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu 'hanging out' together on the new site last Friday.

However, recent reports that Mountain View's own management team are shunning the site are bound to have potential users questioning why they should make the effort to join Google+.

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Google launches Multi-Channel Funnels

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:24:00 GMT

Google has added five new reports to its Google Analytics service, called Multi-Channel Funnels.

The Analytics tool is already popular with users who rely on the service to monitor marketing efforts and track conversions.

Generated from sequences of interactions, Multi-Channel Funnels will help marketers track the full path to conversion, and monitor this process over a 30 day period.

Product manager for Google Analytics Bill Kee wrote: "When a customer buys or converts on your site, most conversion tracking tools credit the most recent link or ad clicked. In reality though, customers research, compare, and make purchase decisions via multiple touch points across multiple channels."

The new tool will allow users to look at interactions and clicks from a range of media channels including organic search, affiliates, social networks and display ads.

Understanding how each role contributes to sales and conversions can shed further light on the customer's buying-cycle online, according to Google.

Kee said: "Marketers that measure return solely on the last channel that a customer touches before conversion are getting an incomplete picture."

AdWords customers can also link to their Analytics account to get more detail on the performance of their ads.

Early testing of the program saw Google working with HUGO BOSS to develop a new marketing strategy. Director of E-Commerce for HUGO BOSS Patrick Berresheim said: "We found out that nearly two out of every three conversions involves more than one touch point."

"It's now possible to value the contributions of assisting channels, which had previously been hidden by looking only at the last click."

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