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I have spent some time thinking about this for a while now, and I have come up with 4 reasons to explain this. My focus here today is why are Google Analytics page views are lower than in Urchin 5 or Webalizer (any other system). 1. Google uses a “on-board” javascript you install on every page of your web site. This means that each time a page is loaded, it talks to Google analytics. Now what is a page load? A fresh page from the server? No, not to me… But to Google it is. So when you hit your back button or visit a page that is cache, Google does not count that. 2. Your Urchin stats use actual log files….. This is like a odometer in your car. As the tires turn, they register real miles. Each time apache (your web server engine) serves up a page that is a real page load - it reports it, even if it was just a partial page load. Urchin has the most accurate page views without question. 3. Google is a money machine. Note that Google Analytics are attached to the Adwords system. They are being very conservative on the reporting side, because they pay out to advertisers on page views and pay per click PPC. I’m sure they have all sorts of methods that are very strict on “grading” what is a actual page view and what is not. They will naturally report on the conservative side. Think of all the fraud tools that they must have in place. My gut tells me that this alone cuts out 20-35% of your traffic alone. 4. All stats programs use different tactics to collect data. Some are java script, and some use actual web logs. No stats system will report the same data stats, ever. We love Google Analytics power to report data, but we know that the data is off and on the low side by a min of 20%. I welcome your comments. |
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