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Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

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Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#41

Post by dbbk »

smt88 wrote: post #22
heipei wrote: post #3

Here's a crazy idea: Don't use analytics at all but focus on your product. If your success relies solely on "improving conversions" by tracking your users and then changing the position and color of your "Checkout" button then maybe try setting yourself apart such that customers want to buy your product even despite an obnoxious purchasing flow. Only then start optimizing it. More serious thoughts: Google Analytics i…

Tracking is not just about improving conversions. It's primarily about understanding if your ads worked. It doesn't matter how good your product is if you can't tell anyone about it, and you can't spend a bunch of money telling people about it if you don't know which ad networks are giving you bang for your buck.

Yeah, as a bootstrapper on a shoestring budget I'm not gonna dump a load of money into eg LinkedIn ads and just hope and pray that something happened. I need to know if they worked.

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#42

Post by snowwrestler »

samb1729 wrote: post #6
heipei wrote: post #3

Here's a crazy idea: Don't use analytics at all but focus on your product. If your success relies solely on "improving conversions" by tracking your users and then changing the position and color of your "Checkout" button then maybe try setting yourself apart such that customers want to buy your product even despite an obnoxious purchasing flow. Only then start optimizing it. More serious thoughts: Google Analytics i…

> Here's a crazy idea: Don't use analytics at all but focus on your product. If your success relies solely on "improving conversions" by tracking your users and then changing the position and color of your "Checkout" button then maybe try setting yourself apart I am very much onboard with this idea. The notion that it is a requirement that businesses track individual customers’ actions in order to succeed is pervasiv…

> The notion that it is a requirement that businesses track individual customers’ actions in order to succeed

How would a business use Google Analytics to track individual customers? The last time I checked, it was against the GA terms of service to do that.

I know Google does have services to do that; I’m asking about GA specifically.

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#43

Post by dbbk »

marvinblum wrote: post #8

I'd like to add https://pirsch.io/ as an alternative. The main differentiation from Plausible and Fathom is, that it can be used from your backend, so that adblockers can't block the script and you still get GDPR compliant statistics for your websites.

I'm sure Plausible also lets you set a custom domain for the script?

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#45

Post by dna_polymerase »

LocalH wrote: post #31
dna_polymerase wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats, now you give your visitor‘s data to goatcounter instead of Google. If that catches on we might see this article about them in the future. Remove stats altogether, pay for your website stats, or roll your own. Just exchanging the free script isn‘t doing anything.

It's open source and can be self-hosted. It doesn't require relying on their hosting.

Sure, but that‘s not what OP is using.

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#46

Post by marvinblum »

dbbk wrote: post #43
marvinblum wrote: post #8

I'd like to add https://pirsch.io/ as an alternative. The main differentiation from Plausible and Fathom is, that it can be used from your backend, so that adblockers can't block the script and you still get GDPR compliant statistics for your websites.

I'm sure Plausible also lets you set a custom domain for the script?

Yes, you can use a custom subdomain to serve the script, but browsers/plugins are working on blocking them too (Brave has implemented this already, I think). You won't get around tracking from the backend if you want accurate data.

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#47

Post by foofoo4u »

blainsmith wrote: post #12

I've been using https://www.goatcounter.com and it works great. Nice and simple and I can turn off some tracking features for things I don't care about.

I've heard good things about goatcounter. https://umami.is/ is another popular alternative to Google Analytics that I happen to use. I've been happy with it.

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#48

Post by madeofpalk »

seventh-chord wrote: post #36
smt88 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I hate Google Analytics because I hate Google, I hate monopolies, and I hate excessive hoarding of user data. I think the necessary aspects of tracking can be maintained without having all the bad aspects, but we need to break up the ad companies first. > without watching exactly how every customer looks at shelves This is absolutely not true. Do you have experience with managing brick and mortar stores?…

Except the things you mention correspond to looking at sales data in your backend DB, not putting google analytics in your frontend, right?

Depends whether you think a "loyalty" program, or customer tracking cameras is frontend or backend

Re: Google Analytics: Stop feeding the beast

#50

Post by jcampbell1 »

iujjkfjdkkdkf wrote: post #39

I'm coming around to the idea that Google (and Facebook etc) need to be called out and held accountable for the "negative externalities" that come with their business model, the same as if a company was polluting the physical environment. Google has turned much of the internet into a wasteland (there are examples as it related to news in the article but this is true for most content). They don't have to pay for this…

Don't forget the extortion racket Google runs by advertising competitors on navigational queries. If you are a small business you are familiar with their mafiosa sales practices. They give new employees "google supremacy" training so their employees can engage in abusive practices without thinking twice. I have never met people as brainwashed as an Adwords account manager.

I have one friend who started calling her husband a Gouche after he got a job at google. Much better term than Noogler.

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