Jascha's Blog

The Industrial Revolution gave rise to the middle class’s social equality becoming comparable (albeit within the often harrowing conditions of the then modern-day workplace) with the then ‘noble’ class. In the same way that the technological advancements led by textile manufacturers, metalurgy, and mining distributed the financial juices for social mobility to a greater number of people, we find ourselves in an oddly similar pattern of revolution empowered by social networks like Twitter, Facebook and their peers.

The information revolution lead by Google, Yahoo!, & Microsoft has made a limited number of sources king by defining social equity largely through the empowerment of ‘link juice’, aka SEO. When we want to find something we ‘Google it.’

Social networks have introduced a new source for social equity, and what is arising from that equity is social equality. They empower the middle classes to communicate with the masses, so to speak. Last week’s news of the paid inclusion of Twitter feeds on Google and Bing searches could change the effect of the kings of information on social relationships for good. Just as we now talk about the importance of link juice (and often complain about the tactics people use to pursue it), will we soon speak of “Tweet juice”?

Will this force us to question the authenticity of our social relationships? There is an organic quality to the growth of social networks, but the lure of Tweet juice injects an unprecedented level of self-interest into the social web. How will the nature of our online social interactions change when we must wonder whether someone is following us earnestly or whether they’re using us for our Tweet juice? Will Tweets become a commodity, with hash tags and handles bought and sold in the social media marketplace?

Will this, in other words, mark the rise of social capital?

Last week at the Web 2.0 summit, Microsoft and Google announced the integration of Twitter’s search results into their search streams, effectively pushing their customer experiences closer to real time. While on the surface this seems to be a benefit for users of their services, the preceding weeks surfaced some confounding positions by the two software juggernauts, namely the submission to pay Twitter for access to their information and, therefore, mine (and yours if you use a non-protected Twitter account).

Clearly there are multiple angles one could take in response to this movement. I for one am still on the fence as to my position…so let’s review some of the gestating ideas:

• Google has fought copyright lawsuits in the past for indexing content. Now they’ve set a precedent and demonstrated that they’re willing to pay to index content. This could potentially be leveraged against them in future or ongoing lawsuits.
• Microsoft, on the other hand, has paid to index content in the past. Is this another sign of Google chasing the tail lights of Microsoft, which seems to be more prevalent these days?
• Conspiracy theory angle: Google wants to digitize and tag all the world’s information. This is another step down that path. Should we expect to see Google pay to index Facebook, MySpace, etc.? What are the implications of having the world’s social data at your disposal? Also, does indexing social content devalue the ‘closed’ social network over time?
• What will including paid content do to the integrity of search rankings? If you’re paying to index content, you’d want to make sure it was delivered enough to justify the purchase, right?
• As Twitter data makes its way into direct search results and also starts influencing ranking signals, SEO success will become inextricably linked to Twitter success (a practice that Justin calls SSO). Should we expect that Ashton Kutcher will become the king of SEO as he current sits atop the largest twitter following? If so, what impact will that have on his relationships?

As we each grow our own social influence through creating content on our blogs, Facebook, Twitter and creating a following within those channels; are we seeing the growth of social capital as a new means of wealth in modern day marketing? What are your thoughts?

Running a business is hard.

"Analytics...form the connective tissue."

The ecosystem surrounding a business – developing IP, building a brand, motivating people, managing operations – often appears disjointed. We employ separate technologies, have separate (often competing) departments, separate sets of processes, even separate offices. Thus it’s easy to forget that business does indeed operate within an ecosystem, that all these seemingly separate entities must work together to make business flourish. Managing your business ecosystem is hard, but truly successful business – that is, to understand the problems we’re solving and take care of our customers:

1) They understand the business problem they are solving.
2) They take care of their customers.
3) They innovate.

All of our businesses have problems, whether they’re related to internal processes or those of our customers, and we face an ever-widening array of tools we can use to address them within the business ecosystem. Analytics are one of the most basic parts of that ecosystem. They form the connective tissue that intertwines with marketing automation, multivariate testing, business intelligence and a bevy of maturing technologies that make it easier for us to run a successful business that understands the problem they are solving and takes care of their customers.

Yet all too often there is an expectation that analytics are removed from your business. That they are a business within your business. That only from identifying separate processes and separate resources can analytics be successful. I’ve heard businesses say more times that I care to share in the last year that they need to “make analytics successful.” We’ve got it wrong.

Technology can’t be beneficial to your business if it operates in a vacuum of resources and expertise. Maybe your business can be stronger with the newer tools (or maybe the new tools get in your way), but they can’t replace a good recipe and a skilled cook.

Success happens because of people and process supported by technology, not technology in and of itself. Web Analytics is not hard, running your business is. I think you’ll agree, however, that when operating within the context of a well-run business ecosystem, analytics can help you solve your business problems better, take better care of your customers and support innovation. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be exploring how marketing plays a role in a successful business. How the practice of marketing iteration is practiced and how it is supported by a recipe of analytics, mvt, a myriad of emerging technologies and, most importantly, skilled cooks.

In the meantime, I’d love to know what makes your business hard, what challenges you are facing, and how you use process and technology (like analytics) to make your business better.

We focus a good deal of our time talking about the lessons learned in the public sector and how they apply to e-Government. I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to contribute some of our views to Business and Technology recently and I’m re-posting the article on my blog as well. Please feel free to share your opinions and thoughts.

The original article can be found here: Business & Technology

Citizens cast a vote every time they visit a government web site – but not for a candidate or ballot measure. Rather, they are indicating what they need from their government and how well the government is meeting their needs. While these votes may not be as purposeful or explicit as a check mark on an election ballot, they do offer a directive that can be quantified and used to improve government services.

With interaction in a Government domain, four main activities take place; information is shared across the internet, a two-way communication between the agency and the citizen is established, online transactions and online governance is conducted.

When citizens can’t find what they need on a government web site, they often end up calling help lines or visiting government offices, increasing agency service costs and the frustration of these citizens.

Mass adoption of e-Government

As many government agencies have discovered, e-government services are not a field of dreams that once built, people will come to and embrace. Even when several federal government web sites have managed to gain awareness, online registration begins to dwindle after years of growth and web developers are unable to uncover the reason for the decline.

Web analytics are a crucial tool in helping organization and government agencies gather additional insight that help identify online communications opportunities and goals.

An experienced web analytics partner, dedicated to e-government solutions, will be able to provide invaluable analytics insight and consultative guidance to better understand and serve diverse audiences online with the efficiency, transparency and interactive engagement that is increasingly expected.

Key to good web analytics is a system which provides short-term and ongoing assistance, in compliance with privacy policies, facilitate agencies in understanding citizens’ changing needs, and provide a simplified view of analyzing sophisticated data.

Adapting to Citizens’ needs

As the Gen Y, a term coined for people born in the late 1980s, enters the workforce and attain voting rights, e-Government portals will witness a surge in usage from this “online savvy” population. Being well-versed in the workings of the internet, this generation of adults will demand faster, well-tailored and interactive mobile and websites from the government.

Web Analytics help drive site optimization and precise segmentation by offering the most accurate and current visitor information, enabling agencies to continuously adapt their web sites to the evolving needs and preferences of their audience. It helps identify and determine the needs of different citizen groups, including differences in the online services or assistance sought by people in different districts.

Individualized tracking also helps web analytics to determine and advice on tailored usage of the website. Each unique visitor is identified and determined by the click-level on any number of links, promotions or content, and this result is used to help determine which web site pages and elements are attracting most attention and driving traffic most efficiently.

Citizen-driven site optimization can save visitors time and encourages increased use of online services. It can also reduce follow-up calls to telephone support or in-person requests at government offices.

Privacy policy compliance

While it is ideal to be able to freely attain and store visitors’ information for web analytics, government agencies face extreme pressure to maintain the privacy and security of the citizen data online. Government agencies should maintain complete control and ownership of all customer data, and be able to tailor information gathering according to the needs and privacy expectations of their visitors.

A on-premise software or On Demand software as a service (SaaS) has been shown to be viable method which enables agencies to secure the data collected using user IDs and passwords, and even biometric security appliances. Agencies should also ensure that its Web Analytics provider undergoes a third-party security audit on a frequent basis.

Another issue on eGovernment web analytics which has gained some media attention is the proper use of cookies in government web sites, allegedly some of which has been reported as a violation of regulations. Cookies are small text files containing a long unique string of characters given to web browser by the web server. This file is sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server, identifying users as unique and tying together their actions. There are procedures to follow to gain exception to technology guidelines and agencies are encouraged to gain a thorough understanding of the documents with their assigned governing body.

Web analytics solution providers offer customers a broad range of alternatives ranging from using no cookies, using session-based cookies, using session parameters or using persistent cookies. Unique first-party cookies are the most accurate and privacy-conscious method of visitor identification for both software and hosted solutions. In place of a third-party cookie, which is served to the visitor’s browser by a web analytics vendor, a first-party cookie is served to the visitor’s browser directly from the web site’s domain.

Third-party cookies are increasingly blocked from being set on user’s machines due to settings in web browsers and other applications, so by utilizing a first-party cookie, the server can ensure more accurate metrics and minimize privacy concerns.

Making sophisticated analytics manageable

Being able to measure and quantify site traffic requires certain computational techniques and IT tools, but the ability to simplify and analyse the data obtained in a context relevant to government agencies demands a dedicated team of consultants who work exclusively with government agencies and organizations. Being versed in the analytics and communications challenges that governments face today, they can provide short-term and ongoing assistance in the essential areas.

With the current advancement in the web analytics industry, government agencies should expect the following from their vendor.

* Governance: Best practices for capturing and maintaining data consistently and producing accurate analysis
* Key Performance Indicator (KPI): Metrics that help align web site investments with agency goals, and provide objective measures of web site success
* Scorecards: Combined performance data from online and offline sources to get a more holistic view of web site visitors
* Reports: Customized overviews of the data and services trends which allow every member of an organization to dynamically filter, drill into and query their reports in an interactive reporting console.
* Dashboards: Keep up to date on important performance data and metrics in one single vie
* Analytics adoption: Training and guidance for individuals throughout the organization on how to access analytics data and create reports
* Independent analytics: Advanced training and guidance on how to access data and create reports without assistance from technicians or analysts

* Link: businesstechnology.in//2009/09/22/Web-Analytics-to-drive-further-adoption-of-e-Government.1.html

What would the Sistine Chapel look like if it was evolved, real-time, with patron's feedback?

For Webtrends, it has indeed been a busy summer. As we enter these last few days of August, a period when all the excitement and activity that has occurred over the past few months could take a waning toll on enthusiasm, Webtrends is not winding down and simply reflecting on the launch of Analytics 9 as the “release that was.” Having fully embraced the agile development model, we continue to focus our energy on collecting feedback from our customers and innovating with our products ahead of the next release.

Phil Kemelor recently posted his thoughts on Analytics 9, appropriately titled “Webtrends: A Busy Summer for Analytics.” It was a nicely written and balanced piece. Phil’s post made note that he was waiting for more from Analytics 9 and Webtrends. As we’ve done over the last year, we are happy to take the ball from him here and continue to drive forward.

With Analytics 9, the foundation has been laid on a canvas from which we’ll continue to paint. This phased approach to our product is a conscience decision and I want to reinforce that. It’s been great to see the positive feedback from folks within the industry and our customers. It’s motivating to have encouragement to introduce more powerful, more elegant, and more open products. We have heard you, we are listening now, and we will continue to deliver.

Last April, during our annual customer event, Webtrends Engage, we broadcasted the view we all had of Webtrends, within Webtrends, to the industry. More importantly we made a promise to change the way people and organizations view and make sense of their data. As the first web analytics company, it makes sense for us to take on this initiative, and since those few days with our valued customers and partners in Las Vegas back in early spring, Webtrends has announced the availability of Webtrends Social Measurement, provided a benchmark for measuring the effectiveness of a digital marketing campaign, introduced The Open Campaign, acquired a leading multivariate testing and site optimization company – Widemile, and yes, released Analytics 9.

As we roll into the fall coming off one of the busiest and most exciting periods we’ve experienced as a company, we’re looking forward to delivering more on our promise.

It’s not often when you have the opportunity to be a part of something professionally sound and personally inspirational. There is something special happening at Webtrends right now that brings business and personal together.

It’s the culture here, the focus on the customer, the innovation, the risk taking. Since joining in November of last year our Marketing team has embraced iterative marketing as a concept and a practice. It hasn’t been easy but the fruits of everyones labor is coming into the spotlight right now.

Today we releaunched www.webtrends.com.

The web is a keystone for modern marketing. As a B2B marketer your websites and blogs are sales tools, information repositories, entertainment guides. With the relaunch of webtrends.com we haven’t created a glossy front end (we are very proud of our UI though!) but introduce a foundation that allows for:

1) data collection – we should always know what our customers are doing on our website
2) experimentation – never be afraid to try anything, always be ready to learn
3) community building – interact via all tools avaliable (twitter, blogs, forums, etc.)
4) contact – make it easy to help your customer and prospects get ahold of you

With all that new, there is one thing that hasn’t changed at Webtrends. We build the most powerful, elegant, and open products in the industry. Come in, we are open.

Marketing has fundamentally changed. I’m not talking about today compared to 10 years ago; everybody can see that. Rather, marketing is in a constant state of flux these days. It’s different today than it was 12 months ago. What works today might not work tomorrow. And it’s likely to keep changing at a rapid pace to keep up with the similarly frenetic pace of change in communications, business and technology.

But most organizations haven’t adapted to these new realities. Marketing teams get one shot at ‘getting it right.’ Most times, they fail.  This produces organizational and business frustration, and the casualties marginalize good marketers. What’s striking is that failure is often the result of the rigid business processes embedded in the organization, the lack of accountability to business drivers, the lack of good data and sometimes even the one-shot budgeting approach. Often, there’s nothing wrong with the underlying marketing idea.

Today, successful marketing is about experimentation. As marketers, it’s our responsibility to build a process-driven foundation for constantly adapting and improving our ideas in order for them to consistently produce the results our organizations require. The results our organizations should demand.  But an out-of-the-box infrastructure for iterative marketing doesn’t exist. The component pieces – analytics, campaign management, multivariate testing and experimentation, and social media — each require too much specialized expertise and attention for any one vendor to effectively deliver them all.  You could say, it takes a village to run a successful marketing campaign these days. But that would be trite.

We’re launching the Open Campaign today to show you how all of these pieces can fit together.  It’s a campaign about the intricacies and complexities of running a digital marketing campaign. Over the coming months, we’re going to pull back the covers, explain our tactics and share our results.

The combination of smart business processes and technology are the foundation of iterative marketing. And we believe that using services and technologies like those we have created at Webtrends and those of our Open Exchange Partners will enable us to become better marketers, to quantify investments and  to participate in the sales funnel.  It’s about time, after all. Our partners in sales and throughout the business channel have been doing so for as long as any of us can remember.

During the Open Campaign, I’m going to share with you my views about our successes and our failures. This will include  insight on the way my team runs the campaign, how they communicate with me and what information I look for to inform decisions. I’ll even share my discussions with our sales leaders and CEO as they unfold. I have two goals for our marketing team during this campaign:

· Add qualified opportunities to the top of the sales cycle and finish with bottom-line success.
· Share with you how we use our products and those of our partners to constantly iterate and improve the campaign.

When we’re done, we want it to be clear that being “open” isn’t a false marketing promise; it’s the way we run our business and it drives bottom line success. It’s also the way we can help you build yours.

Jascha

I wish that someone reminded me of that before I headed to the UK this past week to meet with the Webtrends EMEA team. In the United Kingdom, when you step into the street with only having checked to your right for oncoming traffic, there’s a good chance you’ll have an eye-opening experience. My pedestrian escapades aside, I was actually exposed to another eye-opening experience when I got to see first hand the impressive level of coordination our European teams have achieved in coordinating successful web analytics programs for our customers across so many different boarders.

Webtrends is a global software company, but we execute locally. Whether you’re tracking page views from visitors in Portland searching for Kettle chips or mentions of Barclays from Twitter users located in London, we’re constantly striving to initiate business processes and build technologies that allow for our customers and our business to operate most efficiently where they are – regardless of geographic location.

At the core of Webtrends’ mission, customer success, is our people’s ability to connect with our customers. What I found, and believe unique to our global operations, is that we have an incredibly seasoned team with tenure that dates back nearly a decade. As such, our customer relationships are deep and often blur the line to personal. It’s safe to say, the importance of good customer relationships transcends borders.

The web analytics market in the UK and Europe is still in growth mode. That said, some of the most advanced customers of analytics tools operate out of the UK and Europe. From the work I’ve seen Webtrends involved in across several of our customers in EMEA, analytics is definitely at the core of many successful enterprises.

The duality of the market is exciting. Advanced enterprises in key verticals provide a great foundation to model success from and in turn help the market grow. There is still room for growth that could help these organizations get the most of their analytics investments. In particular, the implementation of a maturity model in an organization using analytics, or one considering analytics, has the potential to greatly advance the cause for analytics regardless your geography.

If you take just one thing away from this post, it would be that when thinking about web analytics and its growth throughout Europe, it’s important to keep your eyes open. Good thing to keep in mind when you’re crossing the street in the UK too…and be sure to look left…too.

The freely available Google Analytics service has been wonderful for the Analytics Industry. It has made analytics accessible to nearly everyone whom has a website. Unfortunately, today, widespread reports indicate an international outage for Google Analytics, Gmail and possibly more services. This outage has serious impacts on websites around the world and the businesses they are in that their customers depend on. CNet’s coverage of the outage has a great quote from Twitter user Tadiera: “The Internet dies without Google. Can’t get to my bank Web site because it’s waiting on ‘google-analytics.com.’ This is made of lame.”

This isn’t the first time a Google outage has outraged users. There was the 2008 incident. And there was the 2007 incident. Interestingly, each has occurred at roughly the same time of year, but not sure if that’s anything more than coincidence.

As the old saying goes “You get what you pay for.” Thom Craver astutely points out that “I repeat what I wrote earlier this week: If you’re a large company, you do not want to rely on Google Analytics. At this point, the little guy is now suffering.”

It’s a constant challenge for small businesses to afford high reliability services. Free options are great until something negative happens. Then they are forced to do nothing but wait for the service to restore. In reality they aren’t paying for the service so an outage here and there shouldn’t be upsetting technically…try telling that to anyone using a service that goes down though.

It’s unacceptable, however, that large companies are using free software on mission critical operations like analytics. It’s not just about data loss, it’s also about a hanging Javascript that can cause a page on their site not to load, which interrupts customer facing business operations.

Google is not the only one that suffers reliability issues. Just this past January Omniture also left it’s customers in the lurch during it’s outages. As Forbes reported, “…customers of Omniture’s Web-based data services have experienced sporadic hiccups for days on end since the beginning of December, receiving data as much as two days late–long after it would be useful, in many cases.”

The fact is that both Google and Omniture sample their customers data to begin with. It should concern their customers that these providers are having outages even when they are pulling sampled data.

Webtrends has made significant investments in our infrastructure to ensure that these kinds of incidents don’t happen. Do a search on Google for Webtrends outage. The only thing you’ll find is a one hour outage from a customer that uses our software, not our hosted service. We know it’s not sexy to talk about SaaS and other backend infrastructure topics when everything is running smoothly. But, when s*%@t hits the fan, then our customers love us for our reliability, scalability, and availability.

Update: The best coverage of the Google outage today was from Larry Dignan on Between the Lines

Google explains what happened here on their Official Blog.