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luni, 10 noiembrie 2014

Quick & Easy Guide to Tracking Across Multiple Domains & Subdomains in Google Analytics

Posted: 09 Nov 2014 04:13 PM PST

Out of the box, Google Analytics handles being deployed across multiple domains or subdomains extremely poorly. This is easily the most common critical problem in Google Analytics, despite its being relatively easy to fix.

Depending on your situation, one or more of a few simple steps may be appropriate. Look for the entry in the left-hand column below that best describes your situation, and make sure you've taken the steps listed on the right:

Situation	Implementation Check-list
Single subdomain	Standard Google Analytics
Multiple subdomains or domains, which are treated as separate sites	Separate tracking ID for each (sub)domain
Multiple subdomains on a single domain which are treated as a single site	Ignore self-referrals Prepend hostname to request URIs Ga.js / doubleclick.js only: set domain name
Multiple domains with one or more subdomains that are treated as a single site	Ignore self-referrals Prepend hostname to request URIs Cross domain linking

As a word of warning, several steps in this document differ according to the tracking code in use, and in these cases I suggest options for each tracking code type. If you're unsure of your current implementation:

ga.js / doubeclick.js: Your source code will contain several "_gaq.push" commands
analytics.js tracking code: Your source code will contain "ga('create'" and "ga('send'" commands
Google Tag Manager: You have an analytics tag in your Google Tag Manager account (which I will assume is set to "Universal Analytics")

If you have updated your Google Analytics interface to Universal Analytics but you're still using the old code, you should follow the recommendations for the old (ga.js / doubleclick.js) tracking code here.

Using separate tracking IDs

Tracking IDs are the unique codes that you're given when you create a Google Analytics property, and look something like "UA-123456-1". Any page with that tracking ID, regardless of the site it's on, will send data to that property.

While it is possible to use the same tracking ID across multiple domains or subdomains and then view them each in isolation using filtered views, the only advantage of doing so is having access to one aggregated view. For the data in this aggregated view to be meaningful, it will need to ignore self-referrals, and this is configured at the property level, meaning that all views will ignore self-referrals, thus leaving the (sub)domain-specific views with a load of "direct" traffic that actually came from sister sites.

This means that you end up choosing between incorrect data in your aggregate view and incorrect data in your specific view. If you do want to be able to have meaningful data in both specific and aggregate views, you could consider having one tracking ID that's used across all sites and additional tracking IDs for each individual site. For details on implementation, check Google's guidelines here (and also here if you use Google Tag Manager).

Ignoring self-referrals

A "self-referral" is when one of the sources of traffic to your own site is your own site. They make it very difficult to work out what channels are being effective in driving conversions, because they leave you with missing data for some sessions.

Self referrals don't just screw up your attribution data. They also trigger new sessions, thus ruining your key metrics and making it extremely hard to track the routes individuals take through your site. Fortunately, they're really easy to deal with.

If you have the old ga.js (or doubleclick.js) tracking code, simply add your domains as ignored referrers in your tracking code:

If you need to ignore multiple domains using ga.js or doubleclick.js tracking code, add multiple lines like this one. In either case, make sure that they come between the "setAccount" and "trackPageview" lines.

If you're using analytics.js tracking code, it's even easier:

Navigate to Admin -> Tracking Info -> Referral Exclusion list, and you can add any referrers you want to ignore. Note that although this feature can appear in your Google Analytics user interface even if you're using the old ga.js tracking code, it will only work with analytics.js.

Prepend hostname to request URIs

A "hostname" is the name that Google Analytics gives to the subdomain that a pageview originated from. Request URIs are the names you see in reports when you set a dimension like "landing page", "page" or "previous page path".

Any view that includes data from multiple domains or subdomains runs the risk of aggregating data from multiple pages and considering them the same page. For example, if your site includes "blog.example.com/index.html" and "example.com/index.html", these will be merged in reports under "/index.html", and you'll never have any idea how effective or otherwise your blog and homepage are.

You can overcome this using an advanced filter:

In the example, this means that we'd see "www.example.com/index.html" as a page in reports, rather than just "/index.html", and metrics that rely on telling the difference between the pages will report their real levels.

Ga.js / doubleclick.js only: Set domain name

For users of the new analytics.js tracking code or a Universal Analytics tag in Google Tag Manager, this step is unnecessary: Unless configured to do otherwise, the cookie is now automatically stored at the highest level possible so as to avoid being subdomain-specific. However, when using the old tracking code, Google Analytics needs a cookie location to be set in the tracking code so that it doesn't lose it when moving between subdomains.

All this means in practice is a simple additional line in your tracking code, between the "_setAccount" and "_trackPageview" lines:

This should always be set to your domain without any subdomain - e.g. moz.com, distilled.net - not www.moz.com or www.distilled.net.

Cross-domain linking

By default, Google Analytics looks for a cookie on the same domain as the page. If it doesn't find one, it assumes that a new visit has just begun, and starts a new session. When moving between domains, the cookie cannot be transferred, so information about the session must be passed by "decorating" links with tracking information.

Don't panic; this recently got dozens of times easier with the advent of the autoLink plugin for analytics.js. If your site spans multiple domains and you're not already using Google's latest analytics tracking code, this feature should justify the upgrade on its own.

If you can't upgrade for any reason, I won't cover the necessary steps for the old ga.js tracking code in this post, but you can find Google's documentation here.

If you're using on-page analytics.js tracking code, you can implement the autoLink plugin by making some modifications to your tracking code:

Tells analytics.js to check whether the linker parameter exists in the URL and is less than 2 minutes old
Loads the autoLink plugin
The autoLink command is passed domains and two parameters. The first sets whether the linking parameters are in the anchor (rather than the query) portion of the URL, and the second enables form decoration (as well as link decoration).

In Google Tag Manager, it's easier still, and just requires two additional options in your Universal Analytics tag:

In conclusion

Setting up analytics to properly handle multiple domains or subdomains isn't difficult, and not bothering will invalidate your data. If you have any questions or tips, please share them in the comments below.

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Seth's Blog : Choosing those that choose you

Choosing those that choose you

We have the privilege about being picky in who we expect/hope/count on/need to pick us.

Pity the foolish 8-year-old boy who gives a kid just a year older the power to make his day. In that moment, being picked for the kickball team is the most important thing in the world, and his dreams are in the hands of a kid with a demonstrated history of poor judgment. If you were walking by the playground and he yelled, "Hey Mister! Wanna be on our team?" it would (I hope) mean little to you. You're no longer willing to be judged by a kid who can't even ride a bike.

But what if your organization or your brand or your self esteem has chosen a chooser you can't rely on, or one you're not qualified to expect to have come through? If you say, "we need 100 of the top CIOs at the biggest companies in this region to choose our technology," you've made it clear who the choosers are. But if this group is swayed by bribes (which you won't pay) or local salespeople (which you don't have), you have a disconnect.

Or what if you "need" to be picked by the anonymous crowds on social networks, or picked by the apparently powerful editor or the bouncer at the club?

A huge swath of human unhappiness is generated by selecting someone to pick you, only to have that person abuse the power, let you down or otherwise seduce you into pursuing something that's not going to happen. Unchoose those people as choosers.

The person or organization you're seeking to be chosen by: Do they have a good track record? Do they choose wisely? Coherently? Reliably? Do they abuse their power, seducing you into acting against your interests? Do they make you miserable? Do they have good taste?

Do you have the resources and reputation necessary to be picked by someone like the person you're needing to be chosen by?

If you've signed up to be approved by, selected by, promoted by or otherwise chosen by someone who's not going to respond to your efforts, it's not a smart choice.

And one last thing: The ultimate privilege is to pick ourselves. To decide that the most important person to be chosen by is ourself.

If you pick yourself as the chooser, if you give yourself the power to say 'go', I hope you'll respect how much power you have, and not waste it.

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duminică, 9 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Ukraine Split in Two; Expect Major Rebel Advance

Posted: 09 Nov 2014 02:58 PM PST

Writing is on the wall. It says, Ukraine is increasingly likely to split in two. Recent events appear to have sealed that fate.

October 28: Russia Backs Plan by Ukraine Separatists for an Early Election
October 31: Ukraine, France, Germany Urge Putin Not to Recognize Rebel Polls
November 2: In Hope and Defiance, Voters in East Ukraine Go to Polls in Rebel Elections
November 2: Pro-Russian rebels vote for leaders in eastern Ukraine
November 2: Pro-Russian Rebel Alexander Zakharchenko Gets 81% of Vote
November 2: Tass: Moscow Considers Elections in Eastern Ukraine Valid
November 3: Ukraine Calls Emergency Meeting to Dael with Election Vote
November 4: US, Ukraine Condemn "Sham Vote"
November 4: Ukraine President Calls for Disputed Poll to be Annulled
November 4: White House Slams Separatist Elections in Southeastern Ukraine.
November 4: Ukraine Tension Rises as Poroshenko to End Autonomy Law "Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will ask parliament to revoke a law giving more autonomy to regions occupied by pro-Russian separatists after the rebels held elections condemned by the U.S. and the European Union."
November 4: Ukrainian President Sends More Troops to the East
November 5: Ukraine Rebels Say Annulment of Autonomy 'Cancels' Truce
November 5: Ukraine Truce Teeters as Kerry, Merkel Warn on Sanctions
November 6: Ukraine Begins "Large-Scale" Offensive In Donetsk; "War Has Resumed" Rebel Leader Warns
November 8: Ukraine rebels seen moving large military convoys

Headline Summation

Ukraine rebels held polls.
In heavy turnout, vote was strongly pro-Russia.
Russia recognized the vote but Ukraine, the US, Germany didn't
The West threatens more sanctions.
Ukraine annuls cease-fire autonomy agreement.
Rebels cancel truce.
War resumes.

Reflections from Reader Jacob Dreizin

Hi Mish,

Allow me to chime in on another election. On November 2nd, the Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples' Republics held elections to basically validate the existing, Moscow-backed rebel leadership that has come to the fore since roughly July-August of this year. The turnout was incredible, considering that many residents of battered frontline towns braved potential artillery fire to get to the polling stations.

On a symbolic note, the elections were held exactly six months after the May 2nd massacre of 40-some pro-Russian demonstrators in Odessa, for which, incredibly, no one has yet been indicted. (Several "investigations" were quietly abandoned months ago, as they were likely pointing to prominent nationalist groups in Kiev.)

Naturally, the EU and U.S. State Department are not happy with these elections, although they were quite happy with the Ukrainian parliamentary elections of October 26th, in which turnout was as low as 30% in some areas as parties more popular in the south and east were too intimidated to campaign or were simply banned.

In other news, Ukraine's Prime Minister Yatseniuk recently stated that Ukraine is open to buying coal from the rebel areas. This is a sign of desperation, which shows that buying coal from overseas (chiefly from South Africa) has not saved the day as there is simply not enough infrastructure to keep Ukrainian power plants continuously supplied with foreign coal. Also, some Ukrainian plants are specifically designed to burn certain grades of Donbass coal.

Already there have been many rolling blackouts and hot water cut-offs, and things will only get worse. Keep in mind that water flowing to apartment buildings (for both washing/cooking and central heating) in the former USSR is typically heated by coal. So you can expect Ukraine to have a very rough winter.

Yatseniuk also said that while Ukraine will continue selling electricity to the rebel areas, it will no longer be paying out pensions or any other benefits to residents of rebel-held areas until such time as these areas return to Ukrainian control.

Although Kiev had already minimized these disbursements since summer, Yatseniuk's statement is the most formal and and extreme announcement to that effect. This is a clear abdication of responsibility for the rebel areas as well as a de facto recognition that those people are no longer Ukrainians.

Note that Russia continued to pay benefits in Chechnya during its periods of de facto independence in the early 1990s and again in the late 1990s. Thus, there is precedent for continuing to treat people as your own citizens as you seek to return them to the fold. In this context, Kiev has just severed the last link that people in Donetsk and Lugansk may have had with the Ukrainian state. It is a scorched-earth policy as well as an admission of failure.

Reader Jacob Dreizin is a US citizen who speaks Russian and reads Ukrainian.

Here's an interesting video about who is responsible for shelling that kills school children. The video is from last summer, but translations have been added so the video is now understandable to those who speak English.

Prepare for Major Rebel Advance

Finally, I have one more email from Jacob Dreizin to share. He believes another major rebel advance is in the cards this year.

Hello Mish,

Based on a long, detailed, and seemingly very authoritative (and conspicuously anonymous) contribution on Strelkov's social media page, which is sort of a mouthpiece for various elements of the rebel movement (much more so than even Colonel Cassad), I am thinking that there will be one more major rebel advance before winter.

[Mish note: "Strelkov" is the nickname for Igor Girkin, a Russian nationalist and former rebel commander.]

The piece does not go into specific geography, but the most likely target is the semi-encircled Ukrainian force in the Debaltsevo salient [Mish note: Debaltsevo is a city in the Donetsk Oblast (province) of Ukraine.] Cutting it off completely and then reducing it as was done with other "cauldrons" last summer would even-out the rebel front line and remove the initiative from the Ukrainian side once and for all, not to mention destroying Kiev's most combat-capable army group.

Another possibility is the capture of Mariupol. Strelkov's page has also strongly hinted at that recently. However, I should mention that misleading, speculative, or seemingly contradictory information on Strelkov's page has been used to spread fear and uncertainty on the Ukrainian side, helping keep them off-balance in advance of major rebel moves.

So, this is just speculation, but I am pretty sure there will be one more major rebel advance (and major Ukrainian defeat) before winter starts in earnest. The rebels simply cannot afford to have their largest cities still within range of Kiev's heavy artillery when the temperatures are consistently below freezing. They can't continue to have their people being made homeless all through the long Russian winter. If for no other reason, they will have to strike hard to push the Ukrainians further back.

Jacob

Realistically Speaking

Realistically speaking, Ukraine is already split in two.

How long it takes for the West to recognize that fact, and how many get killed in the process remains to be seen. Right now, there is no sign either side will back down.

Hypocrites in Washington DC and other misguided souls insist such a result "cannot be allowed to stand" even though the US has no legitimate business in the region.

More importantly, and even if you think the US does have a vested interest in the region, those in Eastern and Southern Ukraine are culturally and politically more aligned with Russia than Kiev.

Russian Language Usage

Map from Online Russian Do Ukrainians Speak Russian or Ukrainian?

Crucial Facts

Wars happen when politicians draw borders to the disagreement of a huge portion of a region's citizens.
Politically and culturally speaking there was never one united Ukraine in the first place!

Iraq is another perfect example of the failure that happens when outsiders set borders without taking cultural differences into consideration.

It is the height of arrogance and foolishness for the US to be involved in this mess. Similar arrogance and foolish nation building in Iraq gave rise to ISIS.

Simple Proposal

Ukraine and the US don't like the vote. OK, how about another one?

I propose a vote in which the citizens in Ukraine's Eastern and Southern regions get to pick the questions as opposed to Kiev forcing questions down the throats of citizens in those regions.

Think the vote would be much different than the one that just took place in Donetsk?

I don't. That's why Kiev won't allow it.

Pro-Democracy Stance

By the way, I will be inaccurately accused (yet again) of taking a pro-Putin stance. The fact of the matter is that I am taking a pro-democracy stance.

I really don't care what the questions are, or how Ukrainians in those regions vote.

This is internal business of Russia and Ukraine, especially those who live in sections of Ukraine that arguably should never have been part of Ukraine in the first place!

Why should anyone else care what the voters choose? Shouldn't people in the region get to decide their own fate?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Catalan Leaders Defy Madrid, Hold Independence Referendum

Posted: 09 Nov 2014 11:11 AM PST

On Tuesday, Spain's highest court suspended the Catalan independence vote in response to a legal challenge filed by prime minister Mariano Rajoy's government in Madrid.

In defiance of that constitutional ruling and vows from Madrid the vote would not take place, it did. Millions voted and the results will likely be for independence.

The Financial Times reports Catalan Leaders Hope Poll Turnout Will Send Independence Signal.

Millions of Catalans took part in a symbolic vote on the political future of the northern Spanish region on Sunday, in the biggest show of strength yet for Catalonia's increasingly vocal independence campaign.

The poll was held in the face of fierce opposition from the Spanish government, and despite a constitutional court ruling last week to suspend the exercise. Results due to be published on Monday are expected to show an overwhelming majority in favour of independence. Most anti-independence parties were opposed to the poll.

Voter turn-out by 6pm, with voting stations set to remain open for another two hours, was thought to be high – significantly more than have attended even the largest independence rallies to date. Catalonia has a population of 7.5m, of whom 5.4m are eligible to vote.

"We have been waiting for this opportunity for many years," said Pau Domingo, a 22-year old pro-independence voter outside a polling station in central Barcelona. "This is an important step towards taking our destiny in our hands, and towards no longer depending on a state that doesn't accept us the way we are."

Despite a series of last-minute legal appeals and a warning from the state prosecution service, the voting process across the region was orderly and peaceful, Catalan officials said. In many cities, voters formed long queues before polling stations opened at 9am, generating what participants described as a "festive atmosphere".

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, told a party conference on Saturday that the Catalan vote "is not a referendum, it is not a consultation, or anything like that." He added: "It will have no effect."

Voters were asked for their response to two questions. The first was: "Do you want Catalonia to be a state?" If answered affirmatively, the ballot paper posed a second question: "Do you want that state to be independent?"

No Effect?

Rajoy said the vote would have "no effect".

Of course it did. His government pledged to stop the vote. Millions of Catalans effectively gave Rajoy the finger. Voter turnout was higher than expected in defiance of the court.

Rajoy's government has been weakened. Is that not an effect? Expect tensions to increase. If so, is that not an effect?

Prior to the vote, Catalans faced a Cyber-Attack on the Catalan National Congress (ANC) Website, effectively shutting it down.

In addition, "75 mobile phones used in the last few days to campaign in favor of the referendum were blocked by a massive reception of calls from an unknown origin."

What's next is unclear, but you cannot disenfranchise 7.5 million people to the point of open defiance of a court ruling and claim there is "no effect".

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

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Seth's Blog : Wall Street gets what it wants

Wall Street gets what it wants

In the magical abundancy-based, post-industrial world, it's tempting to look at the massive web companies that connect us as benevolent overlords, institutions that want what we want.

But then they go public.

Here's a Wall Street analyst with Needham & Company speaking her truth, about Facebook:

“Wall Street cares about the business model. We care less about changing the world.”

The reality of being a senior executive at a fast-growing public internet company is that you're surrounded by thousands (or tens of thousands) of people who make millions of dollars every single time the stock price goes up a dollar.

And that's where the seeds of demise are sown.

Say whatever you want to say, the people around you are all paying attention to the stock price, and Wall Street is driving you to mediocrity, to breaking your promises, to interrupting, shaving corners, and most of all, getting stuck.

Wall Street thinks it wants industrial-style reliable incremental growth, the stuff they got accustomed to getting from General Electric, General Mills and General Dynamic. But in fact, what they invested in this time is changing the world.

The world is going to change with or without this public company. It's bumpy for us along the way, though, because we trusted the companies that are now owned by people who want something else.

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sâmbătă, 8 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Climate Model Predicts Very Cold Winter in Northern Hemisphere; Another Record Breaker?

Posted: 08 Nov 2014 12:04 PM PST

There is a huge buildup up snow in Siberia this year like last. Meteorologists believe that portends another brutal winter.

Bloomberg reports Climate Model Predicts Very Cold Winter in Northern Hemisphere.

About 14.1 million square kilometers of snow blanketed Siberia at the end of October, the second most in records going back to 1967, according to Rutgers University's Global Snow Lab. The record was in 1976, which broke a streak of mild winters in the eastern U.S. In addition, the speed at which snow has covered the region is the fastest since at least 1998.

Taken together they signal greater chances for frigid air to spill out of the Arctic into more temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, said Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts, who developed the theory linking Siberian snow with winter weather.

"A rapid advance of Eurasian snow cover during the month of October favors that the upcoming winter will be cold across the Northern Hemisphere," Cohen said in an interview yesterday. "This past October the signal was quite robust."

Cold air builds over the expanse of snow, strengthening the pressure system known as a Siberian high. The high weakens the winds that circle the North Pole, allowing the cold air to leak into the lower latitudes. The term Polar Vortex actually refers to those winds, not the frigid weather.

Cohen said he first noticed the relationship between the Eurasian snow cover and larger weather patterns while doing post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1990s.

It came about by chance because the original assignment was to look at the North American snow cover, Cohen said. He changed it to Eurasian and "when we investigated further it turned out it was Eurasian snow cover that was the dominant influence."

Last year, 12.85 million square kilometers covered Eurasia at the end of October. By January, waves of frigid air were pummeling the U.S. Prices for natural gas, a heating fuel used by half of American households, rose to a five-year high in February.

"The big early snowbuild will definitely set things up for a cold back half of the winter," said Todd Crawford, a meteorologist at commercial forecaster WSI in Andover, Massachusetts.

Another Record Breaker?

Model theory makes sense to me. And if so, this winter could be as bad as last year's record breaker (or worse).

Flashback March 26, 2014: One of the Coldest Winters in 20 Years Shatters Snow Records.
Advance Warning on October 12 in UK: Worst winter for decades: Record-breaking snow predicted for November
US on December 13, 2013: Snow, Cold Already Crush Records

Beware, the Ice Age Cometh

Bring on the warmth!

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : Getting there

Getting there

Is there an alternative to one step in front of the other, barely getting by, slogging it out? Is the only way to do good work to be a zombie (until you get to the end)?

How about, "how fast will this thing go?" Not because you want to get there faster, but merely because you want to find out what it can do.

The guys who delight in designing cars aren't worried so much about getting from point A to point B. Social media heroes like Gary Vee can't point to a direct ROI for everything they do. The famous chef probably isn't using those knives merely because they help her cut the carrots...

Taking delight in the journey takes confidence. It pushes the envelope of design. And it's fun.

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luni, 10 noiembrie 2014

Quick & Easy Guide to Tracking Across Multiple Domains & Subdomains in Google Analytics