171–180 of 272 posts
Creator here. As a developer, I install analytics for clients, but I never feel comfortable installing Google Analytics because Google creates profiles for their visitors, and uses their information for apps (like AdWords). As we all know, big corporations unnecessarily track users without their consent. I want to change that. So I built Simple Analytics. To ensure that it's fast, secure, and stable, I built it entir…
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Could there not be value in knowing how many pixels your users have available to view your things? You could presumably get that information from device characteristics but then could also presumably use that for fingerprinting.
You as the developer have access to and are aware of all possible display dimensions and aspect ratios. It's not that hard to prioritize the sizes you want to support and then work based off that. There are plenty of tools out there that let you simulate different screen sizes for testing too. I don't see this information providing any extra value.
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I totally agree on the security aspect, but I think we're talking about different threat models. Security matters if your concern is the data leaking to a potential malicious actor. The concern that I'm speaking to is the intended use of the data. Google is definitely going to use it for ad targeting and building a "shadow profile", but a small developer probably won't. This one says they won't, but even if they do t…
I'm curious what your concern with Google building this 'shadow profile' is if you're not worried about this data being leaked to a malicious actor - Is Google simply having this data a bad thing, and if so, why?
Having a random developer create a shadow profile isn't the same.
The scale is vastly different and can be used to track you from site to site.
To everyone complaining about the price point for this service. You are part of The Problem. This is a solo dev's venture, that has a relatively pure and straightforward goal. If you can't afford it, don't use it and pick one of the others. Do NOT compare this with a B2C offering that has nothing to do with analytics. Do NOT compare this with a B2B offering that's free and feeds your user's data into the parent corpo…
Incrementing counters for pageviews, visited page, referer and page width, and putting that into chartjs is something I can put together myself in two hours. It wouldn't be nearly as polished, but it would be 90% there and good enough. Plus I would have a much better idea how well it scales, and generally have less unknowns and risks. The goal is great, the design is sleek, but at the current price point (which is al…
Creator here. As a developer, I install analytics for clients, but I never feel comfortable installing Google Analytics because Google creates profiles for their visitors, and uses their information for apps (like AdWords). As we all know, big corporations unnecessarily track users without their consent. I want to change that. So I built Simple Analytics. To ensure that it's fast, secure, and stable, I built it entir…
"NoScript detected a potential Cross-Site Scripting attack from https://simpleanalytics.io to https://js.stripe.com."
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Surely the best sizes to prioritize would be the ones your users are using the most?
Also known as the most common sizes used by everyone else for most other sites...
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> unnecessarily track users without their consent Regardless of your intentions, you are collecting enough data to track users. > I am transparent about what I collect ([URL]) That page doesn't mention that you are also collecting (and make no claim about storing) the globally-visible IP address (and any other data in the IP and TCP headers). This can be uniquely identifying; even when it isn't unique you usually onl…
I think there's value in at least distributing the data that's collected. I may not like that the analytics provider has my data, but it seems like a lesser evil if that provider isn't also the world's largest ad company and they aren't using it to build profiles behind the scenes to track my every move across a significant part of the Internet. Given the choice between a lot of data about me given to a small provide…
There is 'justice' in the blog creator using analytics data to to improve the experience of blog visitors: a user's data will, theoretically and in aggregate, create a better experience for that user in the future. The class of 'users who browse this page' gets a benefit from the cost of providing data.
Selling browsing information to advertisers is sort of 'anti-justice'. Using blog visitor data to track and more effectively manipulate those visitors elsewhere on the internet into paying people money. The blog visitor's external online experience is made worse by browsing that blog.
To everyone complaining about the price point for this service. You are part of The Problem. This is a solo dev's venture, that has a relatively pure and straightforward goal. If you can't afford it, don't use it and pick one of the others. Do NOT compare this with a B2C offering that has nothing to do with analytics. Do NOT compare this with a B2B offering that's free and feeds your user's data into the parent corpo…
Incrementing counters for pageviews, visited page, referer and page width, and putting that into chartjs is something I can put together myself in two hours. It wouldn't be nearly as polished, but it would be 90% there and good enough. Plus I would have a much better idea how well it scales, and generally have less unknowns and risks. The goal is great, the design is sleek, but at the current price point (which is al…
It's incredible how many developers undervalue their own time, effort, and liability. I believe you're mistaken if you think this'll only take two hours of your time. Even if that's true, I believe you're mistaken that your two hours of time is cheaper than $9/mo. I'm also certain that being responsible for analytics sets you up for liabilities and maintenance that distracts from your main value proposition.
There's definitely a market for this, and that market is absolutely here, but apparently a lot of developers don't know how to pick and choose their battles.