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• Google Analytics Privacy Issues : Is It Really That Bad ?

  2 juin 2022, par Erin

  If you find yourself asking : “What’s the deal with Google Analytics privacy ?”, you probably have some second thoughts. 

  Your hunch is right. Google Analytics (GA) is a popular web analytics tool, but it’s far from being perfect when it comes to respecting users’ privacy. 

  This post helps you understand tremendous Google Analytics privacy concerns users, consumers and regulators expressed over the years.

  In this blog, we’ll cover :

  What Does Google Analytics Collect About Users ? 

  To understand Google Analytics privacy issues, you need to know how Google treats web users’ data. 

  By default, Google Analytics collects the following information : 

  • Session statistics — duration, page(s) viewed, etc. 
  • Referring website details — a link you came through or keyword used. 
  • Approximate geolocation — country, city. 
  • Browser and device information — mobile vs desktop, OS usage, etc. 

  Google obtains web analytics data about users via two means : an on-site Google Analytics tracking code and cookies.

  A cookie is a unique identifier (ID) assigned to each user visiting a web property. Each cookie stores two data items : unique user ID and website name. 

  With the help of cookies, web analytics solutions can recognise returning visitors and track their actions across the website(s).

  

  • First party cookies are generated by one website and collect user behaviour data from said website only. 
  • Third-party cookies are generated by a third-party website object (for example, an ad) and can track user behaviour data across multiple websites. 

  As it’s easy to imagine, third-party cookies are a goldmine for companies selling online ads. Essentially, they allow ad platforms to continue watching how the user navigates the web after clicking a certain link. 

  Yet, people have little clue as to which data they are sharing and how it is being used. Also, user consent to tracking across websites is only marginally guaranteed by existing Google Analytics controls. 

  Why Third-Party Cookie Data Collection By GA Is Problematic 

  Cookies can transmit personally identifiable information (PII) such as name, log in details, IP address, saved payment method and so on. Some of these details can end up with advertisers without consumers’ direct knowledge or consent.

  Regulatory frameworks such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) emerged as a response to uncontrolled user behaviour tracking.

  Under regulatory pressure, Big Tech companies had to adapt their data collection process.

  Apple was the first to implement by-default third-party blocking in the Safari browser. Then added a tracking consent mechanism for iPhone users starting from iOS 15.2 and later. 

  Google, too, said it would drop third-party cookie usage after The European Commission and UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched antitrust investigations into its activity. 

  To shake off the data watchdogs, Google released a Privacy Sandbox — a set of progressive tech, operational and compliance changes for ensuring greater consumer privacy. 

  Google’s biggest promise : deprecate third-party cookies usage for all web and mobile products. 

  Originally, Google promised to drop third-party cookies by 2022, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Google delayed cookie tracking depreciation for Chrome until the second half of 2023. 

  Why did they push back on this despite hefty fines from regulators ?

  Because online ads make Google a lot of money.

  In 2021, Alphabet Inc (parent company of Google), made $256.7 billion in revenue, of which $209.49 billion came from selling advertising. 

  Lax Google Analytics privacy enforcement — and its wide usage by website owners — help Google make those billions from collecting and selling user data. 

  How Google Uses Collected Google Analytics Data for Advertising 

  Over 28 million websites (or roughly 85% of the Internet) have Google Analytics tracking codes installed. 

  Even if one day we get a Google Analytics version without cookies, it still won’t address all the privacy concerns regulators and consumers have. 

  Over the years, Google has accumulated an extensive collection of user data. The company’s engineers used it to build state-of-the-art deep learning models, now employed to build advanced user profiles. 

  Deep learning is the process of training a machine to recognise data patterns. Then this “knowledge” is used to produce highly-accurate predictive insights. The more data you have for model training — the better its future accuracy will be. 

  Google has amassed huge deposits of data from its collection of products — GA, YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs and Google Maps among others. Now they are using this data to build a third-party cookies-less alternative mechanism for modelling people’s preferences, habits, lifestyles, etc. 

  Their latest model is called Google Topics. 

  This comes only after Google’s failed attempt to replace cookie-based training with Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) model. But the solution wasn’t offering enough user transparency and user controls among other issues.

  

  Google Topics promises to limit the granularity of data advertisers get about users. 

  But it’s still a web user surveillance method. With Google Topics, the company will continue collecting user data via Chrome (and likely other Google products) — and share it with advertisers. 

  Because as we said before : Google is in the business of profiting off consumers’ data. 

  Two Major Ways Google Takes Advantage of Customer Data

  Every bit of data Google collects across its ecosystem of products can be used in two ways :

  • For ad targeting and personalisation 
  • To improve Google’s products 

  The latter also helps the former. 

  Advanced Ad Personalisation and Targeting

  GA provides the company with ample data on users’ 

  • Recent and frequent searches 
  • Location history
  • Visited websites
  • Used apps 
  • Videos and ads viewed 
  • Personal data like age or gender 

  The company’s privacy policy explicitly states that :
  

  

  Google also admits to using collected data to “measure the effectiveness of advertising” and “personalise content and ads you see on Google.” 

  But there are no further elaborations on how exactly customers’ data is used — and what you can do to prevent it from being shared with third parties. 

  In some cases, Google also “forgets” to inform users about its in-product tracking.

  Journalists from CNBC and The New York Times independently concluded that Google monitors users’ Gmail activity. In particular, the company scans your inbox for recent purchases, trips, flights and bills notifications. 

  While Google says that this information isn’t sold to advertisers (directly), they still may use the “saved information about your orders in other Google services”. 

  Once again, this means you have little control or knowledge of subsequent data usage. 

  Improving Product Usability 

  Google has many “arms” to collect different data points — from user’s search history to frequently-travelled physical routes. 

  They also reserve the right to use these insights for improving existing products. 

  Here’s what it means : by combining different types of data points obtained from various products, Google can pierce a detailed picture of a person’s life. Even if such user profile data is anonymised, it is still alarmingly accurate. 

  Douglas Schmidt, a computer science researcher at Vanderbilt University, well summarised the matter : 

  “[Google’s] business model is to collect as much data about you as possible and cross-correlate it so they can try to link your online persona with your offline persona. This tracking is just absolutely essential to their business. ‘Surveillance capitalism’ is a perfect phrase for it.”

  Google Data Collection Obsession Is Backed Into Its Business Model 

  OK, but Google offers some privacy controls to users ? Yes. Google only sees and uses the information you voluntarily enter or permit them to access. 

  But as the Washington Post correspondent points out :

  “[Big Tech] companies get to set all the rules, as long as they run those rules by consumers in convoluted terms of service that even those capable of decoding the legalistic language rarely bother to read. Other mechanisms for notice and consent, such as opt-outs and opt-ins, create similar problems. Control for the consumer is mostly an illusion.”

  Google openly claims to be “one of many ad networks that personalise ads based on your activity online”. 

  The wrinkle is that they have more data than all other advertising networks (arguably combined). This helps Google sell high-precision targeting and contextually personalised ads for billions of dollars annually.

  Given that Google has stakes in so many products — it’s really hard to de-Google your business and minimise tracking and data collection from the company.
  

  They are also creating a monopoly on data collection and ownership. This fact makes regulators concerned. The 2021 antitrust lawsuit from the European Commission says : 

  “The formal investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by restricting access by third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps while reserving such data for its own use.”

  In other words : By using consumer data to its unfair advantage, Google allegedly shuts off competition.

  But that’s not the only matter worrying regulators and consumers alike. Over the years, Google also received numerous other lawsuits for breaching people’s privacy, over and over again. 

  Here’s a timeline : 

  • 2019 : UK citizens issued a class action suit against Google for imposing cookies to override users’ privacy settings in the Safari browser. 
  • 2020 : US citizens pushed for a $5 billion class-action suit for tracking their activity through browsers set in “private” mode.
  • 2022 : Another class-action lawsuit in the US for deceptive privacy controls and unconsented location data tracking by Google mobile apps. 
  • 2022 : Google reached a $100 million class-action settlement for breaching Illinois biometrics privacy laws in Google Photos. 

  Separately, Google has a very complex history with GDPR compliance. 

  How Google Analytics Contributes to the Web Privacy Problem 

  Google Analytics is the key puzzle piece that supports Google’s data-driven business model. 

  If Google was to release a privacy-focused Google Analytics alternative, it’d lose access to valuable web users’ data and a big portion of digital ad revenues. 

  Remember : Google collects more data than it shares with web analytics users and advertisers. But they keep a lot of it for personal usage — and keep looking for ways to share this intel with advertisers (in a way that keeps regulators off their tail).

  For Google Analytics to become truly ethical and privacy-focused, Google would need to change their entire revenue model — which is something they are unlikely to do.

  Where does this leave Google Analytics users ? 

  In a slippery territory. By proxy, companies using GA are complicit with Google’s shady data collection and usage practice. They become part of the problem.

  In fact, Google Analytics usage opens a business to two types of risks : 

  • Reputational. 77% of global consumers say that transparency around how data is collected and used is important to them when interacting with different brands. That’s why data breaches and data misuse by brands lead to major public outrages on social media and boycotts in some cases. 
  • Legal. EU regulators are on a continuous crusade against Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as it is in breach of GDPR. French and Austrian watchdogs ruled the “service” illegal. Since Google Analytics is not GDPR compliant, it opens any business using it to lawsuits (which is already happening).

  But there’s a way out.

  Choose a Privacy-Friendly Google Analytics Alternative 

  Google Analytics is a popular web analytics service, but not the only one available. You have alternatives such as Matomo. 

  Our guiding principle is : respecting privacy.

  Unlike Google Analytics, we leave data ownership 100% in users’ hands. Matomo lets you implement privacy-centred controls for user data collection.

  Plus, you can self-host Matomo On-Premise or choose Matomo Cloud with data securely stored in the EU and in compliance with GDPR.

  The best part ? You can try our ethical alternative to Google Analytics for free. No credit card required ! Start your free 21-day trial now. 

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

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  I hereby accept the terms and conditions and the data processing agreeement (DPA).

  
  Your information will be used to create an account on our cloud service. For more information please consult our privacy policy.
  
  

  » Start improving your websites now

  

• 5 Key Benefits of Using a Tag Manager

  12 décembre 2021, par erin — Analytics Tips, Marketing

  Websites today have become very complex to manage, and as you continue to look for ways to optimise your website, you’ll want to consider using a Tag Manager. 

  A Tag Manager will help your marketing team seamlessly track how your visitors are engaging with your website’s elements. Without a Tag Manager, you are missing out on business-altering insights.

  In this blog, we’ll cover :

  Tag Manager overview 

  A Tag Manager (AKA Tag Management System or TMS) is a centralised system for implementing, managing and tracking events. A tag is just another word for a piece of code on a website that tracks a specific event. 

  An example of a tag tracking code might be Facebook pixels, ad conversions and other website activities such as signing up to a newsletter or PDF download. 

  Triggers are the actual actions that website visitors take that activate the tag. Examples of triggers are things like : 

  • A thank you page view to show that a visitor has completed a conversion action
  • Clicking a download or sign up button 
  • Scroll depth or how far down users are scrolling on your webpage 

  Each of these will give you insights into how your website is performing and how your users are engaging with your content. Going back to the scroll depth trigger example, this would be particularly helpful for validating bounce rate and finding out where users are dropping off on a page. Discover other ways to take advantage of tags and event tracking. 

  

  5 key benefits of a Tag Manager

  1. Removes the risks of website downtime 

  Tags are powerful for in-depth web analytics. However, tagging opens up the potential for non-technical team members to break the front-end of your website in a couple of clicks. 

  A Tag Manager reduces that risk. For example, Matomo Tag Manager lets you preview tags to see if they are firing before pushing them live. You can also give specific users restricted access so you can approve any tagging before it goes live. 

  Tag Managers protect the functionality of your website and ensure that there is no downtime.

  2. Your website will load faster 

  When it comes to the success of your website, page speed is one of the most important factors. 

  Each time you add a tag to your site, you run the risk of slowing down the page speed. This can quickly build up to a poor performing site and frustrate your visitors.

  You can’t track tags if visitors won’t even stay long enough for your site to load. In fact, 1 in 4 visitors would abandon a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load. According to Deloitte, just a 0.1 second difference in loading speed can affect every step of your customer journey. 

  A Tag Manager, on the other hand, is a lightweight option only requiring one single tag. Using a Tag Manager to track events can make all the difference to your website’s performance and user experience.

  3. Greater efficiency for marketing

  Time is critical in marketing. The longer it takes for a campaign to launch, the greater the chances are that you’re missing out on sales opportunities.

  Waiting for the IT team to tag a thank you page before setting an ad live is inefficient and impacts your bottom line.

  Equipping marketing with a Tag Manager means that they’ll be able to launch campaigns faster and more effectively.

  Check out our Marketer’s Guide to Successful Website Event Tracking for more.

  4. Control all of your tracking and marketing tags in one place 

  Keeping track of what tags are on your site and where they’re located is a complicated task if you aren’t using a Tag Manager. Unmanaged tags can quickly pile up and result in errors with your analytics, like counting conversions twice. 

  Using a Tag Manager to centralise your tags in one easy to manage place reduces the chances of human errors. Instead, your team will be able to quickly see what tags are already in place so they aren’t doubling up on tracking.

  5. Reduce work for the IT team 

  Let’s face it, the IT team has more critical tasks at hand than adding tags to the website. Freeing up your IT team to focus on higher priority tasks should always be a goal.

  Tagging, while crucial for marketing, has the potential to create a lot of extra work for your website developers. Inserting code for each individual tag is time-consuming and means you aren’t collecting data in the meantime.

  Rather than overloading your IT team, empower your marketing team with the ability to add tags with a few clicks. 

  How to choose a Tag Management System

  There are many tools to choose from and the default option tends to be Google Tag Manager (GTM). But before you implement GTM or any other Tag Management Solution, we highly recommend asking these questions :

  1. What are my goals for a Tag Manager ? Before purchasing a Tag Manager, or any tool for that matter, understanding your goals upfront is best practice.
  2. Does the solution offer Tag Manager training resources ? If online Tag Manager training and educational resources are available for the tool, then you’ll be able to hit the ground running and start to see an ROI instantly.
  3. Can I get online support ? In case you need any help with the tool, having access to online support is a big bonus. 
  4. Is it compliant with privacy regulations ? If your business is already compliant, in the process of becoming compliant or future-proofing your tech stack for looming privacy regulations, then researching this is crucial. 
  5. How much does it cost ? If it’s “free”, find out how and why. In most cases, free solutions are just vehicles for collecting data to advertise to your users. 
  6. What do others think about the Tag Manager ? Check out reviews on sites like Capterra or G2 to find out how other businesses rate the tool. 

  Google Tag Manager alternative

  As privacy becomes a greater concern globally for end-users and governments, many businesses are looking for alternatives to the world’s largest advertising company – Google.

  Matomo Tag Manager is more than a Google Tag Manager alternative. With Matomo Tag Manager, you get a GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA and PECR compliant, open source Tag Manager and your data is 100% yours to own.

  Plus, with Matomo Tag Manager you only need one single tracking code for all of your website and tag analytics. No matter what you are tracking (scrolls, clicks, downloads, Heatmaps, visits, etc.), you will only ever need one piece of code on your website and one tool to manage it all. 

  The takeaway 

  Tagging is powerful but can quickly become complicated, risky and time-consuming. Tag Managers reduce these obstacles allowing you to set tags and triggers effortlessly. It empowers marketing teams, streamlines processes and removes the reliance on IT.

  Ready to try Matomo Tag Manager ? Start your 21-day free trial now – no credit card required. 

• How to Use Web Analytics to Improve SEO

  5 janvier 2022, par erin — Analytics Tips

  Everyone wants their website to rank highly in Google — and that’s exactly why the world of SEO is so competitive.

  In order to succeed in such a crowded space, it’s essential to equip yourself with the right tools and processes to ensure your website is maximally optimised for search engines.

  If you’d like to improve your website’s SEO rankings, leveraging web analytics is one of the best places to start. Web analytics provides valuable insights to help you assess performance, user behaviour and optimisation opportunities.

  In this blog, we’ll cover :

  The basics of SEO and web analytics

  Before we discuss how to use web analytics for SEO, let’s start with a quick explanation of both.

  SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) encompasses a broad set of activities aimed at increasing a website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs). When a user enters a query (e.g. ‘marketing agencies in Dallas’) in a search engine, the websites that appear near the top of the page are optimised for search engines and therefore ranking for that particular term. 

  Web analytics refers to the monitoring/assessment of metrics that track traffic sources and user behaviour on a website. This involves the use of a web analytics tool to collect, aggregate, organise and visualise website data so that meaningful conclusions can be drawn.

  The importance of website analytics for SEO

  SEO revolves around search engine algorithms – a set of rules that dictates a website’s ranking for a given search query (i.e. keyword). The algorithm takes numerous factors into account to determine a particular site’s SERP ranking. So, to achieve strong SEO, your website needs to exhibit qualities that the algorithm deems important. That’s where web analytics comes into play.

  Web analytics allows you to track key metrics and data points that affect how the algorithm ranks your website. For example, how much time do users spend on your site ? Which external links are referring traffic to your site ? How do your site’s Core Web Vitals stack up ? 

  Understanding this data will supply you with the insights needed to make positive adjustments, ultimately improving your website’s SEO. 

  How do you analyse a website for SEO ?

  The SEO analysis of a website needs to be focused on relevant data that’s applicable to search engine rankings. When conducting your website SEO analysis, here are some notable metrics and data fields to pay attention to :

  1. Bounce rate and dwell time

  These metrics denote how much time users spend on your website. If users frequently exit your site after only a few seconds, Google may view this as a negative indicator. To reduce bounce rate and increase dwell time, you should work towards making your site’s content more captivating and ensuring that there aren’t any technical issues with your site (e.g. pages taking too long to load or not optimised for mobile).

  

  2. Broken/dead links

  Perform a technical analysis to scan your website for faulty links. If your site contains broken links that lead to 404 pages, this can detract from your website’s SEO rankings. Redirect those links to a related page or remove them.

  

  Matomo’s Crawling Errors report can give you instant access to this technical information so you can resolve it before it begins to impact your ranking.

  3. Scroll depth

  Measuring scroll depth (how far users scroll down the page) can help you gauge the quality of your content — and this goes hand-in-hand with bounce rate and dwell time. To assess scroll depth, you can use a Tag Manager to track the specific scroll percentage on your site’s pages.

  4. Transitions

  Studying how users transition from page to page within your site can help you understand their behaviour more holistically. Which pages do they tend to gravitate towards ? Are there CTAs on your blog that aren’t driving many click-throughs ? Optimising user journeys will, in turn, elevate the overall user experience on your site.

  

  5. Internal site search

  You can use site search tracking and reporting to learn what your audience is looking for. If you notice a trend (e.g. the majority of searches are for pricing because your pricing page isn’t in the navigation menu), this can inform both site architecture and content planning.

  

  Ecommerce sites in particular should be monitoring branded queries, especially in regards to brand misspellings that could be causing users to bounce off the site.

  6. Segments

  Separating your visitors into distinct segments can produce granular insights that paint a more accurate picture.

  For example, perhaps you notice that your bounce rate is far higher on mobile, or with users from the UK. In both cases, this knowledge will provide clarity on where to focus your optimisation efforts (e.g. mobile responsiveness, UK-specific content/landing pages, etc.).

  

  7. Acquisition channels

  It’s crucial to analyse where your website traffic is coming from. Among other things, reviewing your acquisition metrics will reveal which external websites are referring the most traffic to your website. 

  Links from external sites (also known as backlinks) are one of the most important ranking factors because this tells Google that your site is reputable and credible. So, you may choose to cultivate a relationship with these sites (or similar sites) by offering guest blogging and other link building initiatives.

  

  In addition to the above, you should also be monitoring your Core Web Vitals — which leads us to our next section.

  What are Core Web Vitals and why are they important ?

  Core Web Vitals are a set of 3 primary metrics that reflect the general user experience of a website. These metrics are load time, interactivity and stability. 

  1. Load time (LCP) refers to the amount of time it takes for your website’s text and images to load.
  2. Interactivity (FID) refers to the amount of time it takes for user input areas (buttons, form fields, etc.) to become functional.
  3. Stability (CLS) refers to the visual/spatial integrity of your website. If text, images, and other elements tend to suddenly shift position when a user is viewing the site, this will hurt your CLS score.

  

  So, why are these Core Web Vitals metrics important for SEO ? Generally speaking, Google prioritises user experience — and Core Web Vitals affect users’ satisfaction with a website. Furthermore, Google has confirmed that Core Web Vitals are, indeed, a ranking factor.

  Matomo enables you to track metrics for Core Web Vitals which we refer to as SEO Web Vitals.

  How to measure and track keyword performance

  We can’t talk about SEO and analytics without touching on keywords. Keywords (the words/phrases that users type in a search engine) are arguably the most cardinal component of SEO. So, outside of website performance, it’s also necessary to track the keywords your website is ranking for. 

  Recall from above that SEO is all about ranking highly on SERPs for certain search queries (i.e. keywords). To assess your Search Engine Keyword Performance, you can use an analytics tool to view Keyword reports for your website. These reports will show you which keywords your site ranks for, the average SERP position your site achieves for each keyword, the amount of traffic you receive from each keyword, and more.

  

  Digging into your keyword performance can help you identify valuable keyword opportunities and improvement goals.

  For example, upon reviewing your highest-traffic keywords, you may choose to create more blog content around those keywords to bolster your success. Or, perhaps you notice that your average position for a high-intent keyword is quite low. In that case, you could implement a targeted link building campaign to help boost your ranking for that keyword. 

  Final thoughts

  In this article, we’ve discussed the benefits of web analytics — particularly in regards to SEO. When it comes to selecting a web analytics tool, Google Analytics is by far the most popular choice. But that doesn’t make it the best.

  At Matomo, we’re committed to providing a superior alternative to Google Analytics. Matomo is a powerful, open-source web analytics platform that gives you 100% data ownership — protecting both your data and your customers’ privacy.

  Try our live demo or start a free 21-day trial now – no credit card required.