In a Google and Digital world, is there really such a thing as privacy?

Every time you click on a website, post on social media, use a mobile app and comment via email or even make a phone call, your data is collected for future use (Martin, 2014). This is essentially what others may call your “digital footprint.” This tracking of everything users do online has many consumers concerned about what is being inferred about them every time they do anything online. As more and more companies and business sectors collect data of one form or another on their users, how can we be assured that our digital footprint is safe and private? Truthfully, I don’t think we can. Is this ethical? Probably not.

So how does a company like Google play in to this whole digital footprint I mentioned? Google owns a myriad of products such as:

• A top-ranked search portal (this would be Google.com… duh)
• A popular (and widely used) email service (Who doesn’t used Gmail these days in some way?
• A VERY highly ranked analytics and reporting tool (Google Analytics)
• The largest distributed ad network (Google AdWords)
• Social media networks and a blogging platform (Blogger and Google+)
• An online chatting tool (Gchat and Hangouts)
• The ever popular (and largest) video content hosting site (YouTube)
• Cloud storage and document sharing (Google Drive)
• A Smart Phone operating system (Android)

And so much more… And every single one of these products or services provides Google with information about you that they can use. Google can collect a little bit of data about you from each and every one of the services I listed above, and they do almost effortlessly by integrating in to people’s lives so easily that people have begun to depend on them.

I’m not writing this blog post to say that Google is “evil” or anything of that matter; In fact, I actually really like (and in many cases use) many of the Google products.

So what am I writing this blog post about? There have been many discussions in the news about Google in regard to privacy, security, and ethics and I wanted to share some of my findings.

Google and Privacy

Many people say that Google has no privacy policy, and it has even been reported in some cases that Google said that user of their products had “no legitimate expectation of privacy” (del Castillo, 2013). Google openly admits to collecting information in two ways: Information that is given to them and information they get from the use of their services (Google, 2015).

Information that is given to them includes any personal information you use to sign up for a Google account such as your name, email address, telephone number, and in some cases a credit card. Also, if you take advantage of some of the social sharing options they offer, this personal information can include your name and photo.

Then there is the information that Google gets about you from the use of their services. Google states in their policy that they “collect information about the services that you use and how you use them.” This information can be broken down into roughly six different kinds of information that Google clearly states in their Privacy and Terms of Service statement:

1. Device Information: Google collects device-specific information such as hardware model, operating system version, mobile network information, and in some cases may associate your device with a phone number and your Google account.
2. Log Information: When you use a Google service or content that is provided by Google, they will collect and store certain information such as details of how their service was used (search queries), IP Addresses, device event information, and cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or Google Account (this information is likely used for Google Analytics data in some cases)
3. Location Information: Google uses various technologies such as IP addresses, GPS, and other devices that may provide Google with information on nearby devices such as Wi-Fi access points and cell towers (Google maps anyone?)
4. Local Storage: Google may collect information locally from your device using browser web storage and application data caches.
5. Cookies and anonymous identifiers: When you visit a Google service, a cookie or anonymous identifier may be sent to your device. This data can be used for advertising services or Google services that appear on other sites.
6. Unique application numbers: Certain services include a unique application number, and this information may be sent to Google when you install or uninstall these services. These can be sent to the Google servers to help alert you to updates necessary

So Google tracks everything you do, how much does this bother you? Should we be concerned? Is it time to give up on online privacy all together?

Trying to maintain privacy today is really difficult, and in many times can be really time consuming, complicated, and even exhausting. Everything these days is collecting data on you, and it’s not just Google. Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon can be considered just as guilty. If this is the case, then why do people continue posting the most personal things on a variety of social networks, but get really upset when there is a Google Ad presented to them based off of their browser history.

And my honest opinion on all of this? Sure, if Google wants to track me, good for them because all their going to find about me is that I run a lot and may have a slight obsession with shoes and cat memes. I am a fan of all of Google’s products and services and how they easily integrate in to my life and help me lead a more organized and social one at that. 

Think about it, where would we be without the Google search engine? I mean yes, we have Yahoo! And Bing, but who says they aren’t tracking you as well? Truth is, they probably (and most definitely) are it is just that Google has laid out this huge network of products and services that it is hard to avoid every single aspect.

So to answer the big question in this weeks assignment, how do I feel about the fact that Google collects data from millions of accounts every day and should we be concerned about it or is it just the price we have to pay to reap the benefit of Google’s great services. In this instance, I am going to say that Ignorance is bliss and I personally have no huge issues with Google.

In the end, if you want to keep something private, DON’T PUT IT ON THE INTERNET. It is as easy as that.

Source(s):

del Castillo, M. (2013, August 15). 6 Kinds of your information Google openly admits to collecting. Upstart Business Journal. Retrieved from http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/technology/2013/08/15/6-data-categories-google-collects.html?page=all

Google. (2015). Privacy & Terms: Information we Collect. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/#infocollect

Martin, E. (2014, March 27). The Ethics of Big Data. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/emc/2014/03/27/the-ethics-of-big-data/

KISSmetrics vs. Google Analytics: Battle of the web analytics tool

So by now we have all started to become more and more familiar with the functionality and use of Google Analytics and can see that it is a rather robust tool at a very effective cost. Google Analytics is by far the most popular web analytics tool in the market place. Google Analytics is geared towards Internet marketers and small business owners who want to learn more about their website. It helps marketers and website owners better understand web traffic patterns, traffic sources, conversions, and so much more (Sparks, 2014). In all seriousness, when doing an online search to find other web analytics tools to write about for this assignment, Google Analytics was listed as number one in almost every article I found.

So finding another web analytics tool to research and write about started out a bit frustrating as everyone LOVES Google Analytics. After reading some of the posts that other students have already posted and completing my research, I decided to focus on KISSmetrics.

KISSmetrics tells you in great detail what your website visitors are doing on your website before, during and after they buy from you. Google may tell you what is happening on your website, but KISSmetrics will tell you specifically who is doing it and when. The tool allows you to track the movements of individual visitors throughout your site. You can track and follow how their behaviors change over time, identify patterns, and see what the most common and recent referrers are (Jantsch, 2012).

Screenshot taken on 2/17/15 from SearchEngineJournal.com

So one of the most common questions you probably get or even ask yourself is how are any of these other web analytics tools different from Google Analytics. The biggest differences being cost, how they each handle tracking, and what you can and cannot do with each tool.

How Google Analytics and KISSmetrics Track People

At its core, KISSmetrics analytics is focused on people. In the KISSmetrics platform, every visit to your website gets tied to a person. Most people use KISSmetrics to track individual people. Google Analytics only added people tracking as a feature and most people who use Google Analytics may ever actually touch that feature (KISSmetrics, 2014).

When a person visits your website for the first time, both KISSmetrics and Google Analytics assign an anonymous ID to that person. For Google Analytics, the visit and registration must take place in the same visit session. For example, if a person visits your website one day, and then returns another day to finally register, only the last session in which the user registered is tied to the user ID. Essentially, that first session is lost. With KISSmetrics, all data from a person’s previous sessions is assigned to an alias.

Screenshots from KISSmetrics Blog.

In another example, if a customer comes to your site and registers and then logs out and then the next visit, doesn’t login in at all, what happens to the data from the second visit? Since KISSmetrics is able to read the cookies associated with the device this customer used, this tool is still able to track the user. Google Analytics isn’t as simple as the user would need to see this person’s user ID every time they visited the site. Because every session needs a user ID defined in order to connect that session to a person, Google Analytics would assume that this users second visit was just a completely different person.

Screenshots from KISSmetrics Blog.

Most analytics platforms need to make one of two assumptions when tracking users:

• Each visit from the same device is coming from the same person.
• Each visit should be treated as a new person until they identify themselves. 

KISSmetrics assumes that activity on one device is coming from the same person and that if one person visits your site on multiple devices, that the tool will recognize them once they sign in and will then tie them back to the customer ID that is assigned to them.

Google Analytics assumes that each visit is from a new person. The only way around this issue is to essentially identify each person in each session based on the actions the user takes while visiting the site (KISSmetrics, 2014).

So how do KISSmetrics and Google Analytics Differ in other areas of web analytics?

As you may already know, KISSmetrics and Google Analytics are not the same. Yes, they are both analytics tools that track users actions, but there are a few differences in other common uses.

Tracking Visitors and Visits: While KISSmetrics can track visitors, if all you are interested in doing is tracking visitors and visits, you may want to use Google instead.

Tracking Bounce Rate, Time on Page, and Exits: KISSmetrics does not currently track these metrics so it’s best to stick with Google on this too.

Conversion Tracking: By tracking conversion, you are essentially looking at the percentage of people who have done a specific action on your site. In Google Analytics you will set up goals (in a 90-day limit) to track this. By default, conversions typically have to happen on the same visit, which is useful if you want to test and track conversions that happen immediately. In KISSmetrics, you would need to set up a funnel report to track conversions.

Screenshot from KISSmetrics Blog

A/B Testing: For Google Analytics, the best way to do A/B testing is to set up two separate URLs to be associated with two difference pieces of content. With KISSmetrics, you are able to integrate A/B Testing tools such as Optimizely and connect that data with the A/B test report. All the data collected will get connected back to actual people.

Screenshot from KISSmetrics Blog

Cost is another facture

We all know that Google Analytics is a free tool, which easily fits in to most businesses marketing budget. KISSmetrics on the other hand requires a bit of cost behind it.

Screenshot taken from KISSmetric Pricing page.

So which do we use? Google Analytics or KISSmetrics?

The truth is that Google Analytics can provide a world of insight in to how customers interact with your website. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to find many sites or even blogs that don’t currently use it on their site (at least public websites, Government websites are a different story). According to KISSmetrics, many customers use KISSmetrics alongside Google Analytics. Google Analytics can provide session data, page engagements, and referral traffic. KISSmetrics can be used to gather insights into how customers are actually using the site, document A/B tests, and in all gather data that can help make better business decisions.

In the end, we can conclude that while KISSmetrics is a valuable web analytics tool, it would be even more valuable while using along side Google Analytics.

What other web analytics tools do you think are valuable?

What do you look for in a web analytics tool?

Source:

Jantsch, J. (2012, July 23). The 10 Smartest Web Analytics Tools. American Express Open Forum. Retrieved from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/the-10-smartest-web-analytics-tools/#_topcommentform

KISSmetrics blog. (2014). What is the Difference between Google Analytics and KISSmetrics. Retrieved from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/google-analytics-and-kissmetrics/

KISSmetrics. (2015). Pricing. Retrieved from https://www.kissmetrics.com/pricing

Sparks, C. (2014, March 11). 10 Great Social and Web Analytics Tools. Search Engine Journal. Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-great-social-web-analytics-tools/90629/

How to decide what social media channels you should use

Entering the social media game.

With so many social media sites available today, it can be overwhelming figuring out which ones your business should use. In an ideal world, every single social media platform would be perfect for your business and it would bring in tons of traffic to your site. But lets be honest, it is not a perfect world and some social media channels are not for everyone. Just because a site is popular, doesn’t mean it is a good fit for your business (Patel, 2014). Some businesses choose to dabble in every single channel, while others focus on one or two. Neither of these strategies is “wrong” but neither strategy is perfect for everyone.

Here are some things to consider when thinking about playing the social media game:

> Social media is now the number one activity on the web and is one of the fastest growing areas as well. It totally makes sense to want to be where so many other people are. It gets your product or service in front of more eyes.

> You have a direct link to your customers. Not only does social media allow you to interact directly with your customers, it allows you to do so in so many different ways in since many apps today offer notifications, messaging and tagging options.

> Social media allows you to increase brand awareness, share news in a timely fashion, interact with customers, and so much more.

> Many people use social media. Since about three-quarters of all Internet users are on at least one social network, it is likely that your target audience is on a platform you wish to use.

So how do you choose a social media platform?

When it comes to choose which social media platforms you’ll utilize, you want to select those that offer the best potential for reaching your ideal target audience and that allow you to share your content in a way that best aligns with your businesses goals (Levy, 2013). So how do you decide what platforms meet your businesses needs and objectives?

Define your needs: We’ve all heard stories about how other businesses were able to utilize social media to effectively open up a wealth of marketing opportunities, but before you decide to use social media, you need to decide how relevant these objectives are to your business model. Do you want to increase traffic to your website or interact with customers more? As stated earlier, social media is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution and clarifying your needs is important to tailoring social media to your business (Interact Marketing, 2012).

Decide how you will use it: All social media tools share the common goal of connecting you with others, but different types of social media have different functions so it is important to decide how you are going to use it and what content you are going to share before you choose a platform. Are you going to share visually rich content? Do you have videos you want to share? Do you want your social media efforts to foster camaraderie between your employees, or do you want social media to be another communications tool to use with your target audience? Figuring out how you want to actually use your social media channels within your business will help you narrow down the field of viable platforms (Interact Marketing, 2012).

Identify your audience: Maybe it’s obvious to others, but you need to have some idea of whom you are going to be talking to in social media. Looking at the demographics of who is on which channel and the features and culture of each platform will help you decide if you can integrate well with the types of users who frequent those channels.

So once you’ve defined your needs, identified your audience and decided how you would like to use social media, you can then choose what social media platforms are best suited for your business.

Facebook is right for you if… you are building a community presence or want to reach as broad a network as possible. With more than 70% of online adults actively participating on Facebook, it remains the most popular social media site by far. It demonstrates a high level of engagement because it is the most frequently used and has the most users, but this may not be the primary criterion for your business.

LinkedIn is right for you if… you are a B2B, in another industry or role in which you can provide useful insights to people who are thinking about their work and are seeking to make business connections. LinkedIn is optimal for peer networking and industry-specific information.

Pinterest is right for you if… you are a highly visual industry with customers who will naturally look to express themselves through a more visual manner. Are you an industry associated with fashion or decorating? This is an ideal platform for businesses such as those.

Twitter is right for you if… you want to reach a large population of people, especially a much younger age group. It is especially appealing to “information junkies” and therefore if your content is data and information rich, this could be a good platform for you. It is however way more effective when there is two-way engagement (Manafy, 2014).

Want another great resource to help you figure out which social media platform is best suited for your business? Here is a great Infographic that gives you just that information.

Content vs. Conversation

Content vs. Conversation is another part of the social media equation you need to consider when figuring out how best to utilize social media in your business marketing efforts. We’ve all heard the phrase “Content is King”, but lately a new phrase should be entered into your dialogue: Conversation is King. While producing great content is still important, generating conversation and engagement around this content is the key factor in which many business should focus their marketing. Remember “Content is just something to talk about” (Novak, 2012). Content without conversation just broadcasting. It goes to the ears of the listener/reader/viewer/visitor and stops there.

So why is this all important? Developing the right content to help engage your followers will be what makes your venture in to the world of social media more effective. Deciding the type of content you want to produce will help you decide where in the social media world you want to be. Everything is connected.

How did you decide which social media channels you wanted your business to be a part of?

How relevant is content vs. conversation in your social media game plan?

Sources:

Interact Marketing. (2012, January 27). Choose the Right Social Platform for your Buisness. Retrieved from http://www.interactmarketing.com/choose-the-right-social-platform-for-your-business/

Levy, S. (2013, December 2). How to Choose the Best Social Media Platform for your Business. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230020

Manafy, M. (2014, July 9). How to choose the Best Social Media Site for your Business. Inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/michelle-manafy/how-to-choose-the-best-social-media-sites-to-market-your-business.html

Novak, C. (2010, July 27). Why Conversation, not Content, is King. Social Media Today. Retrieved from www.socialmediatoday.com (WVU IMC 642 Week 3 Readings)

Patel, N. (2014, September 5). Which Social Media Platforms are Best Suited for your Business [INFOGRAPHIC]. Quick Sprout. Retrieved from http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/09/05/what-social-media-platforms-are-best-suited-for-your-business/