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03.18.09 Promising Tool Set For Measuring Mobile-Based Web Traffic  By Manoj JasraGrowing enterprise demand to measure mobile-based web traffic and video usage has spawned a promising new set of tools and methods which nonetheless remain fairly immature, according to new research by independent analyst firm, CMS Watch. Traditional web analytics firms can typically analyze video starts, but cannot perform more advanced tracking -- such as capturing pauses, stops, rewinds, and duration of view -- without a significant amount of invasive coding within the videos themselves. New vendors, including Visible Measures and GlanceGuide, have developed systems to capture these events at the video player. New analytics vendors focused on mobile metrics include AdMob, Amethon, Bango, and Mobilytics. However, established vendors such as Omniture, Coremetrics, and WebTrends all jumped into the mobile fray in the past year. These suppliers can provide useful reports such as percentage of mobile visitors by screen size, handset manufacturer, and browser type.
However, like video, mobile metrics remains a very young and inexact practice. The biggest challenges revolve around data collection, since JavaScript and cookies (used heavily to measure web traffic today) are not accepted by a high percentage of existing phones. Mobile device header data can provide useful information, but will vary according to manufacturer, device, carrier, personal preferences, and national regulations. "In particular, 'unique' visitor behavior remains an uncertain exercise," notes Kemelor. The Web Analytics Report 2009 is available for purchase online from CMS Watch (http://www.cmswatch.com/Analytics/). Next week, CMS Watch will debut a four-hour online certificate course in Web Analytics Technology, including a section on mobile and video tracking. Comments About the Author: Manoj Jasra is a well respected search marketing veteran having been in the industry since 2002. Manoj currently serves as a Sr. Analyst on the web solutions team at Shaw Communications Inc. Manoj's role primarily consists of providing SEO/PPC and Web Analytics strategies in addition to business insight on Shaw's web properties. Previously, Manoj held the role of Director of Technology at Enquiro Search Solutions where he oversaw Enquiro's product development for search marketing solutions and acted as the lead on both SEO Training and Enquiro's Web Analytics approach. Check out Manoj's well read blog, Web Analytics World, which focuses on his insight in Search Marketing, Mobile, Technology and of course, Web Analytics. You can contact Manoj at manoj.jasra@gmail.com |
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