I recently had the opportunity to directly compare products from two of the most respected names in web analytics. Each product has distinct strengths and weaknesses, but perhaps most interesting is how much the designs share in common, as this inside look at the tools will reveal.

Accuracy

My first priority was to analyze the accuracy of each tool. In the past I have been known to dismiss accuracy as unimportant, but with the possibility to directly compare each, very close-up, I simply couldn't resist. I carefully set out the parameters for my accuracy test, and performed the comparison under the strictest conditions possible.… Continue reading

Randomness and causality

All my life I have been a late developer, and it's never really bothered me. I was close to being the shortest kid in my school year until I reached 16, and then suddenly grew to one of the tallest. I founded ClickTracks long after other web analytics products seemed to make the market space impenetrable, and yet ClickTracks established a firm position. While there is such a thing as first mover advantage, more often than people give credit you're actually better off examining the successes and failures of others and learning before you move.

I therefore hope a recent discovery of mine will be seen as late mover advantage, and not that I am hopelessly behind the times. I was browsing a bookshop and picked up, at random, a book named 'Fooled By Randomness' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I have been enraptured by the insight, eloquence and sheer intellect of this author. If you're reading this article then I assume you need to make rational, data driven choices, in which case you simply must read this book now. If you've already read it, forgive me.… Continue reading