Doesn’t that just take the cake? Here I spend a few hours writing up my perspective of the major web analytics platforms only to have a much more comprehensive report released by StoneTemple Consulting shortly thereafter.
Joking aside, for anyone contemplating the right solution, their report is worth the read.
They cover HitBox, Affinium NetInsight, IndexTools, Clicktracks, Omniture, WebTrends, and Google Analytics. The first part of the report focuses on data accuracy; as you might imagine the shocking news is that each platform reports different numbers (I need to upload a photo of my tongue in my cheek here). Okay okay! Acknowledging that some people may not already know that: No two reporting platforms ever report the same numbers. It is an unfortunate fact of web life and a vacuous black hole of controversy which will likely never be resolved. The reasons for which are far to lengthy to go into detail here. Read the report and make a decision.
The second part of the report (much to difficult to find by the way) is the real meat. A qualitative comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the 5 primary packages in the study: HitBox, Affinium NetInsight, IndexTools, Clicktracks, and Google Analytics (unfortunate that Omniture and WebTrends weren’t included here but then, you can read my highly scientific and thorough opinion).
The StoneTemple report is one of the best comparison’s I’ve seen and one hopefully to be replicated with more coverage of the major players. I too learned that I need to track down Unica’s Steve O’Brien; we must be related so maybe I can get a deal.
very good read… thanks for the mention. 59101924