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• Use data to develop impactful video content

  28 septembre 2021, par Ben Erskine — Analytics Tips, Plugins

  Creating impactful video content is at the heart of what you do. How you really engage with your audience, change behaviours and influence customers to complete your digital goals. But how do you create truly impactful marketing content ? By testing, trialling, analysing and ultimately tweaking and reacting to data-informed insights that gear your content to your audience (rather than simply producing great content and shooting arrows in the dark).

  Whether you want to know how many plays your video has, finish rates, how your video is consumed over time, how video was consumed on specific days or even which locations users are viewing your video content. Media Analytics will gather all of your video data in one place and provide answers to all of these questions (and much more).

  

  What is impactful video content ?

  Impactful video content grabs your audience’s attention, keeps their attention and promotes them to take measurable action. Be that time spent on your website, goal completion or brand engagement (including following, commenting or sharing on social). Maybe you’ve developed video content, had some really great results, but not consistently, nor every time and it can be difficult to identify what exactly it is that engages and entices each and every time. And we all want to find where that lovely sweet spot is for your audience.

  Embedded video on your website can be a marketing piece that talks about the benefits of your product. Or can be educational or informative that support the brand and overall impression of the brand. And at the very best entertaining at the same time. 

  84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. Building trust, knowledge and engagement are simply quicker with video. Viewers interact more, and are engaged longer with video, they are more likely to take in the message and trust what they are seeing through educational, informative or even entertaining video marketing content than solely through reading content on a website. And even better they take action, complete goals on your website and engage with your brand (potentially long term).

  It is not only necessary to have embedded video content on your website, it needs to deliver all the elements of a well functioning website, creating the very best user experience is essential to keeping your viewers engaged. This includes ensuring the video is quick to load, on-brand, expected (in format and tone) and easy to use and/or find. Ensuring that your video content is all of these things can mean that your website users will stick around longer on your website, spend more time exploring (and reading) your website and ultimately complete more of your goals. With a great user experience, your users, in turn, are more likely to come back again to your website and trust your brand. 

  All great reasons to create impactful video content that supports your website and brand ! And to analyse data around this behaviour to repeat (or better) the video content that really hits the mark.

  

  Let’s talk stats

  In terms of video marketing, there are stats to support that viewers retain 95% of a message when they view it in a video format. The psychology behind this should be fairly obvious. It is easier (and quicker) for humans to consume video and watch someone explain something than it is to read and take action. Simply look at the rise of YouTube for explanatory and instructional video content !

  And how about the 87% of marketers that report a positive ROI on using video in their marketing ? This number has steadily increased since 2015 and matches the increase in video views over the years. This should be enough to demonstrate that video marketing is the way forward, however it needs to be the right type of video to create impact and engagement.

  Do you need more reasons to consider honing and refining your video content for your audience ? And riding this wave of impactful video marketing success ?

  

  But, how do we do that ?

  So, how do you make content that consistently converts your audience to engaged customers ? The answer is in the numbers. The data. Collecting data on each and every piece of media that is produced and put out into the world. Measuring everything, from where it is viewed, how it is viewed, how much of it is viewed and what is your viewer’s action after the fact.

  While Vimeo and YouTube have their own video analytics they are each to their own, meaning a lot more work for you to combine and analyse your data before forming insights that are useful. 

  Your data is collected by external parties, and is owned and used by these platforms, for their own means. Using Web Analytics from Matomo to collect and collate media data can mean your robust data insights are all in one place. And you own the data, keeping your data private, clean and easy to digest. 

  Once your data is across a single platform, your time can be spent on analysing the data (rather than collating) and discovering those super valuable insights. Additionally, these insights can be collated and reported, in one place, and used to inform future digital and video marketing planning. Working with the data and alongside creative teams to produce video that talks to your audience in an impactful way.

  The more data that is collected the deeper the insights. Saving time and money across a single platform and with data-backed insights to inform decisions that can influence the time (and money) spent producing video content that truly hits the mark with your audience. No more wasted investment and firing into the dark without knowledge. 

  Interrogating the ideal length of your video media means it is more likely to be viewed to the end. Or understanding the play rate on your website of any video. How often is the video played ? And which is played more often ? Constant tweaking and updating of your video content planning can be informed by data-driven human-centric insights. By consistently tracking your media, analysing and forming insights you can build upon past work, and create a fuller picture of who your audience is and how they will engage with future video content. Understanding your media over time can lead to informed decisions that can impact the video content and the level of investment to deliver ROI that means something.

  

  Wrap Up

  Media Analytics puts you at the heart of video engagement. No more guessing at what your audience wants to see, how long or when. Make every piece of video content have the impact you want (and need) to drive engagement, goal completion and customer conversion. Create a user experience that keeps your users on your website for longer. Delivering on all of those delicious digital marketing goals and speaking the language of key stakeholders throughout the business. Back your digital marketing, with truly impactful content, and above all else deliver to your audience content that keeps them engaged and coming back for more.

  Don’t just take our word for it ! Take a look at what Matomo can offer you with streamlined and insightful Media Analytics, all in one place. And go forth and create impactful content, that matters.

  Next steps :

  Check out our detailed user guide to Media Analytics

  Or, if you have questions, see our helpful Video & Audio Analytics FAQ’s

• Exceeded GA’s 10M hits data limit, now what ?

  1er décembre 2021, par Joselyn Khor
  Exceeded Google Analytics’ 10M hits data limit, now what ?

  “Your data volume (1XXM hits) exceeds the limit of 10M hits per month as outlined in our Terms of Service. If you continue to exceed the limit, we will stop processing new data on XXX 21, 2019. Learn more about possible solutions.”

  Yikes. Alarm bells were ringing when a Google Analytics free user came to us faced with this notice. Let’s call him ‘Mark’. Mark had reached the limits on the data he could collect through Google Analytics and was shocked by the limited options available to fix the problem, without blowing the budget. The thoughts racing through his head were :

  • “What happens to all my data ?”
  • “What if Google starts charging USD150K now ?”

  Then he came across Matomo and decided to get in touch with our support team …

  “Can you fix this issue ?” he asked us.

  “Absolutely !” we said.

  We’ll get back to helping Mark in a minute. For now let’s go over why this was such a dilemma for him.

  In order to resolve this data limits issue, one of the solutions was for him to upgrade to Google Analytics 360, which meant shelling out USD150,000 per year for their 1 billion hits per month option. Going from free to USD150,000 was too much of a stretch for a growing company.

  “Your data volume (1XXM hits) exceeds the limit of 10M hits per month …”, what did this message mean ?

  With the free version, Mark could collect up to 10 million “hits” per month, per account. Going over meant Google Analytics could stop collecting any more data for free as outlined in their Terms.

  Google Analytics’ Terms of Service (2018, sec. 2) states, “Subject to Section 15, the Service is provided without charge to You for up to 10 million Hits per month per account.”[1]

  What is a "hit" in Google Analytics ?

  Data being sent to Google Analytics. It can be a transaction, event, social interaction or pageview - these all produce what Google calls a “hit”.

  

  And their Analytics Help Data Limits (n.d.) support page makes clear that : “If a property sends more hits per month to Analytics than allowed by the Analytics Terms of Service, there is no assurance that the excess hits will be processed. If the property’s hit volume exceeds this limit, a warning may be displayed in the user interface and you may be prevented from accessing reports.”[2]

  

  Possible solutions

  So the possible solutions given by Google Analytics’ Data Limits support page were (also shown in image below) :

  • To pay USD150K to upgrade to Google Analytics 360
  • To send fewer hits by setting up sampling
  • Or choose the slightly less relevant option to upgrade mobile app tracking to Google Analytics for Firebase.

  Without the means to pay, the free version was fast becoming inaccessible for Mark as he was facing a future where he risked no longer having access to up-to-date data used in his business’ reporting.

  Mark was facing a problem that potentially didn’t have a cost-effective solution.

  

  So what can you really do about it ?

  This is where we can help provide some assistance. If you’re reading this article, we’ll assume you can relate to Mark and share with you the advice on options we gave him.

  Options :

  One option posed by Google is for you to send fewer hits by auditing your data collection processes

  If you really don’t have the budget, you’ll need to reassess your data collection priorities and go over your strategies to see what is necessary to track, and what isn’t.

  • Make sure you know what you’re tracking and why. Look at what websites are being tracked by Google and into what properties.
  • Go through what data you’re tracking and decide what is or isn’t of value.
  • Set up data sampling, this however, will lead to inaccurate data.

  From here you can start to course correct. If you’ve found data you’re not using for analysis, get rid of these events/pageviews in your Google Analytics.

  But the limitations here are that eventually, you’re going to run out of irrelevant metrics and everything you’re tracking will be essential. So you’ll hit another brick wall and return to the same situation.

  Option 2 – Ignore and continue using the free version of Google Analytics

  With this option, you’ll have to bear the business risks involved by basing decisions off of analytics reports that may or may not be updated. In this case, you may still get contacted about exceeding the limits. As the free service is provided for only up to 10 million hits, once you’ve gone over them, you’re violating what’s stipulated in the Terms of Service. 

  There’s also the warning that “… you may be prevented from accessing reports” (Data limits, n.d.). So while we may not know for certain what Google Analytics will do, in this case it may be better to be safe rather than sorry by acting quickly to resolve it. 

  Option 3 -The Matomo solution – a privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative

  Upgrade to a web analytics platform that can handle your demanding data requirements. Save money while continuing to gain valuable insights by moving over to Matomo Analytics (recommended)

  This is where you can save up to USD130,000 a year. As well as that, the transition from Google Analytics to the Matomo Cloud is a seamless experience as setup and maintenance is taken care of by our experts.

  For example, you can get up to 25M hits for USD3,241/month (or USD38,900/year) on the Essentials plan.

  Or even 25M hits for USD4,991/month (or USD59,900/year) on the Business plan – which offers additional web analytics and conversion optimization resources.

  Matomo Cloud is a great option if you’re looking for a secure, cost-effective and powerful analytics solution. You also get what Google Analytics could never offer you : full control and ownership of your own data and privacy. 

  Try Matomo free for 21 days – no credit card required.

  No need to worry about losing your Google Analytics data because …

  Now you can import your historic Google Analytics data directly into your Matomo with the Google Analytics Importer tool. Simply follow the step-by-step guide to get started for free.

  Along with savings you can get :

  • A solution for the data limits issue forever. You choose the right plan to suit your data needs and adapt as you continue growing
  • 100% accurate data (no data sampling)
  • 100% data ownership of all your information without signing away your data to a third party
  • Powerful web analytics and conversion optimization features
  • Matomo Tag Manager
  • Easy setup
  • Support from Matomo’s specialists

  Learn more about Matomo Cloud pricing.

  

  Or go for Matomo On-Premise

  If you have the in-house infrastructure to support self-hosting Matomo on your own servers then there’s also the option of Matomo On-Premise. Here you’ll get full security knowing the data is on your own servers. 

  Setup will also require technical knowledge. There will also be costs associated with acquiring your own servers, and keeping up with regular maintenance and updates. With On-Premise you get maximum flexibility, with no data limits whatsoever. But if you’re coming over from Google Analytics and don’t have the infrastructure and team to host On-Premise, the Matomo Cloud could be right for you.

  Learn more about Matomo On-Premise.

  Where do you go from here ?

  Getting 10 millions hits per month is no small feat, it’s actually pretty fantastic. But if it means having to shell out USD150,000 just to be able to continue with Google Analytics, we feel your problem could be fixed with Matomo Cloud. You could then put the rest of the money you save to better use.

  If you choose Matomo, you now have the option to : 

  • Raise your data limits for a fraction of Google Analytics 360’s price
  • Get a comprehensive range of analytics features for the most impactful insights to ensure your website continues excelling
  • Get data that’s not sampled – meaning 100% accuracy in your reports
  • Migrate your data easily with the help of Matomo’s support team

  We’ll have you covered. 

  By sharing with you the options and advice we gave to Mark, we hope you’ll be able to find a solution that makes your life easier and solves the issue of data restrictions forever.

  The team at Matomo is here to help you every step of the way to ensure a stress-free transition from Google Analytics if that is what works best for you.

  For next steps, check out our live online Matomo demo and start your free 21-day trial.

  References :

  [1] Terms of Service. (2018, July 24). In Google Analytics Terms of Service. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html

  [2] Data limits. (n.d.). In Analytics Help Data limits. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1070983?hl=en

• 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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