Blackbeaks Blog….All things Analytics

So I read an article earlier that caught my attention. In summary it says any URL that a Google+ user or searcher says is worth a +1 click is captured by Google. I see why for public pages you want to appear in search results it’s a good thing but for URLs that have been [...]

On the 1st day of xmas my true love said to me we defined what we wanted to see. One the 2nd day of xmas my true love said to me we set up our metrics and defined what we wanted to see. On the 3rd day of xmas my true love said to me [...]

Just a thought really. Having some discussions with some smart people at the eMetrics summit and it seems the UK are going slap £50K fines on companies that don’t follow the new rules laid down by the ICO (based on the EU directive). So if they truly do this for even the 1st party cookie [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I have news that I am personally quite excited about. I’m embarking on writing my second book though this time it’s slightly different to my first book Cult of Analytics. This one is a joint effort with an ex-colleague and friend of mine Markus Varha. The book [...]

Like marketers in the UK don’t have enough problems the ICO (Internet Comissioners Office) the regulatory body in Britain for all things to do with online privacy made it even harder back in May. On May 25th 2011 the ICO told the UK online marketing industry that all visitors to UK websites must opt-in if [...]

The fact is that all your choices are based on data. When I say all I mean all choices. The data sources are varied. You have sensory data. What you personally can see, hear, smell, touch and taste form probably your biggest internal database to draw information from. This data is stored in your memory. [...]

1) If you haven’t set good goals and objectives first. (If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there). 2) If you intend to simply use tools to report without taking action. (All analytics should result in doing something because of something). 3) If you’re using numbers as an emotional crutch [...]

I was asked advice by someone a lot younger than me, something, that is by the way, becoming more and more common as I get older… I think there may be some kind of correlation. But I digress . Yes, I was asked about how to learn to do analytics. My reply was just do [...]

In the last year or two I’ve noticed mainstream journalists and commentators taking a stance on consumer privacy on the Internet. There are 3 main instigators behind the majority of these articles. Fear, Doubt & Uncertainty. Fear “Technology has rendered the conventional definition of personally identifiable information obsolete,” said Maneesha Mithal, associate director of the [...]

Not in my opinion. Many in the web analytics and business optimization space will tell you to measure everything, never guess or rely on intuition. In some cases it’s like religion, “Though Shalt Not Guess!”, however I don’t think there is anything wrong with using your intuition, your experience and yes dare I say it [...]