PPC-Advice.com

I dropped the ball on this one, it’s been over a year since Yahoo acquired IndexTools but with all the Microhoo/Yagoog/Yahbing/Binghoo news between then and now, I admit that I took my eye off Yahoo Web Analytics.  Thankfully, enough folks remained on the IndexTools/Yahoo Web Analytics team, and I was able to get my hands on membership.  With the rumors going around about how Google pimps their own Search conversion/goal attribution, it’s nice to know there’s more choice out there.

In the back of my mind, I keep thinking, if I were to take what I know and lead development of a new analytics solution, what would it look like?

My Analytics Wish List and how Yahoo Web Analytics (YWA) Compares

Different analytics solutions provide different tools, some of the better features include:

• Real time segmentation without back-processing; thumbs up to Google Analytics (because it’s free), and thumbs down goes to Omniture (because it’s expensive).  YWA is surprisingly good at this too, but Google gives you a lot of predefined segments to get you started quickly.  YWA – Pass!
• Real time reporting; thumbs up to Woopra because you can’t get better than tracking visitors LIVE.  Thumbs down to Omniture, 30-45 minutes latency is so 5 years ago.  YWA is surprisingly good at this too.  YWA – Pass!
• Advanced reporting options; thumbs up to Omniture because they’ve got a decent web GUI, exportable reports, the Omniture SiteCatalyst Excel Client, the upcoming Omniture Report Builder (based on the HBX version, review coming soon), and a solid API.  I can’t really give anyone a thumbs down here, they’re all mediocre.  YWA has a ton of great reporting features, bordering on Omniture’s territory.  YWA – Pass!
• Ease of deployment; everyone is the same in this category, on-page Javascript tagging is standard, but the patent and royalties for this technology belongs to Nielsen so I guess they get the thumbs up.  Custom tagging is tough though, so thumbs down to Omniture for their complicated implementations.  YWA allows for easy tag generation with customizations.  YWA – Pass!

With four key features shining so brightly, Yahoo Web Analytics is well on it’s way to becoming a great second opinion to both free alternatives such as Google Analytics, and even expensive heavyweights such as Omniture… no kidding!

Free is never free

Just like you should never believe anything you see on TV, web analytics software is rarely truly free.  Whether it be to get a company to advertise, up sell on other products, or gain insights into unknown territory; solution providers always have an agenda.

Yahoo is no different, after all they’re trying to increase value across their advertising solutions by providing an alternate source of the truth.  Which is great, because you can never collect enough data.  If you think you can’t use a second opinion, my buddy Avinash has news for you.

No free solution will ever tell you that you have to pay X amount in order to continue using Y solution for free, but if you use their software you’re likely to find value and you’re likely to spend advertising dollars.

At the very least, search engines such as Yahoo and Google will gain insights into your specific visitors, website, and business.  But that’s okay, because they collect oodles of information from their search engines alone, so your site is one small piece of the puzzle.

Signing up for paid solutions also has it’s pitfalls because you may have managed expectations now that rely on assumptions valid today, but when requirements and scales of economy change – you could be in for a nasty surprise.

That being said, Yahoo Web Analytics is a strong competitor amongst free solutions, as well as some paid solutions and should be able to bridge the gap between free and paid for small to medium-sized businesses on a budget.