Many website owners use Google Analytics and other web analytics tools to make business-critical decisions about how to improve their websites by understanding how users engage with their webpages. We’ve worked hard to make Google Analytics both a robust and reliable web analytics platform while also ensuring the trust and privacy of visitors of these websites. Today we’re taking additional steps to provide even more choice and transparency for both website owners and users.
First, we’re announcing the availability of the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The opt-out provides users with a choice of whether information about website visits is collected by Google Analytics. The add-on stops data from being sent from your computer when you visit websites that use Google Analytics Javascript (ga.js) to track usage. The beta version of the opt-out that we are releasing today is available for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, and can be downloaded here:
tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Additionally, we’re also releasing new functionality for website owners to provide an additional level of privacy for visitors to their sites by offering an option to anonymize IP address information sent to Google. Google Analytics uses the IP address of website visitors to provide general geographic reporting. Website owners can now choose to have Google Analytics store and use only a portion of this IP address for geographic reports. Keep in mind, that using this functionality will somewhat reduce the accuracy of geographic data in your Analytics reports. You can learn how to implement this within your existing Google Analytics installation here:
http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJSApi_gat.html
We’re committed to Google Analytics as an industry-leading web analytics platform that also provides users with transparency and choice when it comes to privacy.
Posted by Amy Chang, Director of Product Management, Google Analytics
55 comments:
K`Tetch said...
And what about Opera?
10:53 AM
Francis Carden said...
Using OpenSpan, you can get Analytics for all applications inside the firewall, not just the browser. Great for Contact Center agent monitoring who use much more than just a browser - windows app, java apps, mainframe and more...
Given the opt-out, OpenSpan would not allow the "user" to opt of "inside the firewall" reporting metrics since the Analytics captured are dictated by business and IT - not by users of the browser or other desktop apps.
Monitoring user activity on the desktop is one of the fastest growing markets for Analytics. It's the last piece of BAM.
https://openspaninc.webex.com/openspaninc/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=56410727&rKey=c203989aa23c5c8d
11:09 AM
Frank said...
I'm really amazed you opened this door. It's absolutely terrible in my mind. It's almost as bad as a bait and switch. You sign web sites up thinking they will always have a 100% view of what their visitors are doing. Now you're supplying plugins for people to opt out of this. I track conversions through Google Analytics and now my numbers are going to be off because people can opt out. I would love to hear about your reasoning for this. Each web site should have the ability to allow this plugin to work or not. I signed up because I want 100% of my visitors data available to me so I can make better decisions. Now the most tech savvy users will probably be missing a large chunk.
Did you consider how this missing data might affect web sites or was this just for privacy? How does it help web masters, the people that sign up to use your service. It sounds like you just made a feature that none of them want.
11:35 AM
Sam said...
This is going to be a hurdle for internet marketing community and analytics folks. Specially if the add-on is installed by a large number of visitors. At that point, people may turn to other analytics tools.
Sam
12:28 PM
Richard said...
Frank, you're not getting 100% at the moment, it's dead easy for a tech savvy person to disable javascript and a lot of them do, but this probably amounts to <1% of your visitors
This plugin makes it easier for the regular joes to switch it off, which I also think is a terrible idea.
Back to web server logs it is for most of us then.
Or is it a ploy to shift Urchin sales?
12:44 PM
guidryr said...
My Google Analytics numbers actually only show 0.13% of visits from Opera over the past 2 months. It ranks 12th on the list and comes after Safari on the iPhone, Android and even iPods. So, it seems counter-intuitive to go to any lengths to support that browser.
Also, is it ironic that I used GA to find this info?
1:12 PM
K`Tetch said...
Thats nice, Guidryr. On the one site I have GA access to, it's 5th, half a percentage point below Safari (and 5% behind IE). We all have different visitor profiles, which skew things. My particular one is very tech-oriented, and aimed at the 15-25yo base, so it will have a heavy Opera (and firefox) spread - those two alone account for 2/3 of all my visitors.
And lest you think Opera isn't so popular, it's responsible for 95% of browser innovations over the last 10 years, and one that is either first or second on many platforms, including the iphone and wii.
1:27 PM
webfield said...
Frank, the absolute numbers are irrelevant in web analytics - just go for the relative ones.
But - how about a functionality to opt-out on a website level in order to get rid of the cookie-based filtering of your own requests?
2:19 PM
drhughes00 said...
I'm with Frank here and cannot understand the reasoning behind this.
Why develop such a sophisticated set of website analytic tools, encourage website owners to use them and then say "Hey! Here's how to stop them being used".
Bizarre.
3:02 PM
Zach said...
Guys this is a PR story, nothing else. A way for Google to look like they care about privacy because of all the kerfuffle over facebook.
Mark my works, if even 0.1% of the web starts to use it someone will post a javascript function that will re-enable tracking, even for people that turned it off.
But it isn't going to hit 0.1% not even 0.01% because very, very, very few people care about this type of privacy. They care about pictures of them feeding their dog beer from leaking onto the internet.
4:24 PM
leandro Alves Ferreira said...
Its a shot in your own foot. I cant belive you guys are doing it!
5:23 PM
tmathmeyer said...
I got an alternative. if you want to get accurate measurement data, just tell people that the country/state that gives ur page the most hits in a month wins a banner or something on the site. it will make sure people wont use this addon.
other than that, its a terrible, and if people start using it, im going to find another tracking service, one that doesnt GIVE USERS A BACKDOOR OUT. if you dont want to be tracked, dont go to a website that tracks you. its that simple.
6:45 PM
Website Consultant said...
I assume the Opt-out Browser Add-On is browser specific; yes?
For example, if I use Firefox, Chrome and IE I would need to download the add-on for each browser, yes?
PS. I doubt it will affect analytic reports to much. My guess is 1% or less of users will download the browser add-on (or search on httpS:www.google.com which would also affect GA reports).
9:39 PM
André Felipe said...
Why are u guys doing it? Google Analytics is so important to website owners... This is a very bad decision!
10:29 PM
Shailendra Sial said...
Such a foolish decision by Google!!! I can't believe it
11:31 PM
Issy said...
How works _anonymizeIp() for asynchronous page tracking?
11:54 PM
Erwin said...
Hi,
I think it would be a great feature if the Opt-out Add-on would distinguish sites that use the new IP anonymization feature from from those that don't. Then users could be given the choice to allow tracking on sites that use anonymization.
A whitelist feature, as in Adblock Plus, would also be nice.
12:46 AM
Anthony said...
Why!??!!?!! The information tracked by ga isn't even private!
I really like Google Analytics but I'm now going to have to write my own tracking system. That is unless you get rid of this "Greater choice and transparency" PR nonsense.
12:53 AM
Nick said...
An April fool? On 25th May?
1:11 AM
Ben said...
I don't understand the rationale - I would have hoped that the least I can expect from a visitor to my website is their consent to anonymously count their visit in the statistics I need to provide for my advertisers in order to fund my service. In the complex debate over privacy you're seeking to educate that somehow recording that you've visited has negative implications quite aside from those more legitimate concerns about IP tracking - at the same time not making it clear that this plugin in no way affects my ability to use my own logs for this outside of your product. In short you offer me a less useful product AND offer no real privacy to my visitors. I hugely appreciate the free service Analytics offers me and thanks for it (I'd be happy to pay for it) but it'd be a crying shame to degrade its efficacy for a one time PR piece...
2:16 AM
gwmbox said...
I'm with Frank also here, I mean I might as well turn Google Analytics off it it is not going to be of use.
Seems a senseless idea to me... maybe the Google Devs can give us a post on why this is being done and what affect it has on analytics for us users.
Oh well, I guess it will mean my page will load a little quicker without the google analytics code on it now - I mean no point keeping it there hey
3:28 AM
Markus Merz said...
How to implement it for asynchronous page tracking?
Is this correct? I only replaced _gat with _gaq. Or do I have to use something else?
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXX-Y']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
_gaq._anonymizeIp();
Or is it
_gaq.push(['_anonymizeIp()']);
Or doesn't it work with asynchronous page tracking???
I am confused :)
5:53 AM
tardandemotional said...
What an awful idea. I, like everyone else, use Analytics to measure traffic to my sites. This plugin basically renders all future Analytics statistics inaccurate.
5:55 AM
tardandemotional said...
I provide a large amount of free content to my site visitors free of charge.... almost free of charge - my charge to them is that the currency they provide me with, which is the details of their visit so I can attract potential advertisers - will Google provide me with a tool to block their access now that these visitors have decided to stop paying?
7:04 AM
Ileane said...
Thanks for doing this. Many people are concerned over privacy and this should help ease their minds. I don't think it will be disruptive to those of us who are making business decisions based on GA stats. Most people will not opt-out but it is good to know that the option is there. I'm sure many of those that are complaining will be the first ones to opt-out.
@Ileane
7:20 AM
Mike said...
So you got caught stealing completely illegal usage information with your street-view cars and now, to save face, you're ruining the accuracy of your analytics program. Making your faithful users pay for your internal mistakes, fantastic.
At this point, you owe it to us to suggest a competing platform that actually works correctly.
7:20 AM
Dov Bigio said...
Thats awful.
Now I will have to buy Urchin in order to have real data?
Is Google trying to promote Urchin instead of Analytics?
How will I be able to trust evaluation of A/B tests, for example, using Google Analytics?
7:55 AM
Thiago Mouço said...
Google should change its name to Googlesoft. This decision is absurd.
Google has made the world dependent on this tool and do it today.
Suggesting we do? I know guys. Let us use Urchin?! ;S
8:18 AM
CostaRica said...
Can you clarify if pages will have a way to check if data is being tracked or not? I would assume that if analytics data is not being logged the page could present limited functionality to the user.
8:41 AM
Airton Maia said...
Isso é uma puta falta de sacanagem!
8:52 AM
tiago said...
It is absolutely stupid! This is the kind of decision taked without considering the implications of it. Saying that the total audience data are not relevant seems to come from someone who works in a business that is not maintained by the media. For those who do not remember the sites survives by money from ADVERTISING and for that you need overall numbers to present to the market and for make your business plan. Not to mention the internal data will become distorted by excluding a portion of users. Say that I can not have anonymous data capture navigation within my site is like saying I can not have a security camera in my shop because I will invade the privacy of customers. That does not exist! I really think this a sad day ...
I still believe that membership will be extremely low, but this leaves a major alert in all our minds ... In this case: Google #fail
9:55 AM
Brian said...
Will GA still record conversions?
If not isn't this going to skew ecommerce reports if transactional information isn't sent back to the dashboard?
10:12 AM
Vivek said...
guidryr, why project your site's stats onto all sites? Opera users are more likely to customize than IE and Chrome users. Then again, Opera aficionados have always been able to disable ga.js with their own JS! Opera FTW
Google is throwing GA under the bus for an image of privacy/security when they should be focusing on securing identifiable information!
10:22 AM
E. said...
The add-on completely undermines the fundamental value of Analytics. Focus should have been on ensuring anonymity.
11:46 AM
HPSS said...
Congrats, Google.
You've made it.
4:51 PM
Greg said...
GA's UI is the best I've ever seen. While it's a superb app, I was never comfortable giving Google my business information or my clients'. Can I expect an anonymizer to hide my site data from Google?
There are half a dozen free/low cost alternatives to GA. I always have at least two installed with GA as checks on the numbers.
A major issue is Google must satisfy multiple and competing constituencies. In this case, they are compromising GA customers a little to stay even with other constituents.
8:12 PM
MuShU said...
This is a good thing. You should *always* give the users more options and more choices. Usability requires it. I see a bunch of whiners posting here but none of them are web usability experts. None of them understand privacy and accessibility issues.
As a customer and consumer I don't want to be "tracked" (with all the negative emotion that word carries). I don't care about your "marketing efforts". If you require this then I shall take my money elsewhere. I personally turn off javascript, I use a web anonymizer such as anonymouse.org and I don't have a flash plugin installed. So none of your stats are valid for me anyway.
This gives the average user a choice of whether to share their personal tracking info with websites. And choice is ALWAYS a good thing. Good for you Google for stepping up and attempting to protect end-user privacy.
9:57 PM
Jonathan Crompton said...
What is Google up to? do want us to use Analytic or not? Just mean have to use other analytic tools..
12:57 AM
找个角落 said...
uh-huh...what's the situation now? I can't understand this case completely.
If you really care about user's privacy so much, why don't you begin with yourself first, say don't record anything when we use Google's services?.
2:12 AM
Jen said...
GA out of the box does not collect PII. However, many people out there have developed ways to track PII using GA. GA needed a way to protect people from website owners/operators that violate GA's terms of use.
5:44 AM
webalytics said...
We've created a tool that can be run on server side to enable a visitor to opt-out from being tracked... Check out http://www.opt-me-out.eu ...!
8:39 AM
David said...
I think Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on should have been released a long time ago. Good that it has come now and I am sure a lot of internet users are going to use it. Visit my blog - Techchai.com to read some more interesting facts.
9:08 AM
Michael said...
Many browser plugins have been freely available for years that block Javascript tags from capturing web traffic; this is just another addition to the list.
If you want to track all your website activity using GA, regardless of browser, Javascript availability, etc., then just use Pion. It's completely free for basic GA data capture.
12:01 PM
Michael said...
It's technically impossible for any Javascript-based data capture technology to anonymize IP address information. Browsers send HTTP requests directly to the vendor (in this case Google), so by nature of how the Internet (TCP/IP) works, regardless of what the Javascript does it's always going to send the client's IP address.
12:04 PM
RandallS said...
I expect better from Google - this is hypocrisy of the worst kind.
If Google really cares about user privacy, make a tool that lets the user opt out of ALL Google data collection (including Doubleclick, Adsense tracking, and all Google data collection for search queries).
Making a tool for only Analytics is a PR move, but it really says that Google thinks it is fine for Google to track highly detailed, personal info but that Google thinks giving purely anonymous info to sites using Analytics is somehow bad.
Google Analytics offered really valuable info to site owners that helped them improve their site content and take much better advantage of ads placed on Google. No longer the case - and that means advertising on Google has just become much less useful.
12:26 PM
webalytics said...
Check out our free tool providing a centralized approach: http://www.opt-me-out.eu
1:49 PM
Stephen said...
I can honestly see why people would like web users to hand over tons of data so that they can tweak their site.
I just don't understand why they can't see that web users might not want to.
6:16 PM
Fernando Pinheiro said...
It is interesting to have this opt out, as a visiting user, but so bad as a site owner.
I think that this will reduce the accuracy of so many data that in future can make me think if it is interesting to have an inaccurate data?
Anyway, mostly users doesn't know how to change from IE to Firefox/Chrome, install this extension will be a challenge for them ;)
6:46 AM
Leonardo said...
And now what will be the purpose for the GA? Oh cool! now I have inaccurate data from my web visitors!!
I agree that it wont be any user able to install this addon. Many of them dont even use bookmarks bar!
Btw, its always good to have a choice.
Others tools will rise up. Its a matter of time.
5:45 PM
João said...
Big mistake. This will harm Google Analytics, especially if the opt-out is implemented by default in some browsers.
There we go again to log file based analysis or other tools than Google Analytics.
2:27 AM
JH Max said...
6:36 AM
Omega said...
Thank you Google Team for protecting privacy!!
I would like Google to develop an addon/script/option that makes "all" of Google settings as private by default. Let me choose what I would like to share.
4:15 PM
Tom Burns said...
Does anyone know to what degree VPN and other similar technologies affect the accuracy of analytics data?
8:32 AM
Roflo said...
Here's what I need from an Add-on like this:
Allow me to add the Analytics Web Property ID of my sites. And don't send analytics info for my sites only.
Why?
Because I'm the one person who visits my pages the most. My statistical info will be more accurate if I rule myself out.
8:49 AM
Dave Underwood said...
@K`Tetch
Opera is included. See the actual Add-On page: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
"The Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on is available for Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Opera."
1:54 AM
Post a Comment