Comments on: $165K in Adwords + Broken Google Analytics = Pissed Off Client.

By: Web Design News » Blog Archive » Be Careful What You Recommend

Web Design News » Blog Archive » Be Careful What You Recommend — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:01:06 +0000

[...] Well be careful what you recommend because $165k in Adwords + Broken Google Analytics = Pissed Off Client [...]

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:06:22 +0000

Yup, you’re right Ian. We have a similar TOI from CT. The difference is the help we get in solving issues with vendors who charge for analytics services. We appreciate your comment.

By: ian

ian — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:47:48 +0000

The TOS disclaimer is pretty standard boilerplate that you’ll find, I think, in ClickTracks and other services as well.

I’ve seen equally frustrating outtages with Omniture.

Bottom line is, no vendor is flawless. Always have a backup.

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:06:08 +0000

Exactly Mathew. GA is a brilliant during-the-day tool. It’s also easy pull historic data out that is so useful. Like everything Google touches, it works great…and almost always works. However, there’s nothing like ClickTracks advanced labels in GA.

Every analytic tool has it’s own idiosyncrasies. Multiple data points is the only way to go to ensure credible cover.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:37:41 +0000

The lesson is to deploy more than one analytics package. If you want to use Google Analytics, make sure you have another analytics program running as well. Actually have three data points and you will be doing really good. With two you have a little recourse to getting something back or fixed. I think Google Analytics is great, but you do not have the contract saying they will stay up a certain amount of time or help you out when you are in trouble. The more data points the better. Think triangle… they all test each other.

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:26:23 +0000

Right, we use GA for daily real time daily monitoring and backup analytics.

By: Adam Sharp

Adam Sharp — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:43:56 +0000

I definitely had data loss, really ticks me off that they still haven’t fessed up.

I’d be willing to pay for Analytics premium if it meant better service and some sort of data guarantee. But now I really am thinking about moving to a different Analytics program, even though it’ll be a PITA.

Excellent post.

By: Yuri

Yuri — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:54:04 +0000

If you are sure of something, you gotta take the risk. If you want your clients to use GA, then you take the risk of recommending them. That’s simple.

For example, I have recently recommended one linkbaiter to three people. Possibly, they will be entrusting their hard-earned cash to him. If it goes well, I doubt they’ll remember me. If not, they’ll blame me for losing the money and time.

But I think it’s worth taking the risk to go further. No risk, no glory. No pain, no gain

The thing is, of course, is that you probably won’t rely on GA to display all the data year-round. And that’s totally fine. Though, if you use IndexTools or a similar hardcore analytics program, you may not need GA. Hrmm.

By: Coffee Break - August 2, 2007

Coffee Break - August 2, 2007 — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:36:38 +0000

[...] Marty Weintraub over at aimClear addresses the problem of using Google Analytics. [...]

By: Nathania Johnson

Nathania Johnson — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:11:02 +0000

Thank you for addressing this. I’ve been noticing problems with Google Analytics for months. On one of my blogs, it tracked for a few days and then stopped. And I have it installed with a WP plugin just the same as my other blogs.

My hosting companies analytics are solid, though not as pretty and not as many features. Thanks for the tips on other analytics services.