experience matters

Ever since the early days of the Internet, technologies have been developed to track online behavior. Over time many of these have developed into what is commonly referred to as web analytics and now Marketing Sciences.

Some people believe this is a serious invasion of your privacy. Because you sit in the privacy of your home to surf the Web, there’s a belief that your activities should be completely private. In reality though, while you may be surfing in your underwear (ok, maybe that’s just me), people like me can “see” what you’re up to.

Here’s how it works, at a basic level. Most web pages have bits of code that are invisible to the average person. Between this code and cookies that get created and stored on your browser, back end systems are able to track a wide variety of actions that you may take on one or across multiple websites.

In order to explore this further, I’d like to separate out a couple of levels of privacy.

1. I.D. level privacy – Credit card information, phone numbers, your address etc. fall into this category. This is the kind of thing that I could commit identity theft with.
2. Preferences privacy – Data about stuff you like and perhaps have purchased in the past, but nothing I could stalk you with. You like cookies and organic gardening, but I have no idea “who” you are unless you sign in and tell me specifically.
3. Browsing privacy – Data about how you moved around in a website and what you looked at.  You downloaded three recipe cards on supertastycookies.com. “You” are totally anonymous.

Legitimate web analytics and advertising tracking operate mostly in level three (browsing) and sometimes in level two (preferences), but never in level one (I.D. level). (To be clear, level one is and should always be off limits to the realms of web analytics and Marketing Science.)

Why? For many reasons, but primarily to make your experience of the web better, easier, faster and more effective. The data can be used to optimize web sites as well as customize the content you might see so it better fits your personal preferences, and in so doing help companies achieve their business goals.

I will also point out that the data is also used to present you with advertising that you’re more likely to be interested in, and therefore more likely to click on hence making advertiser companies more money.

Privacy advocates would promote the idea of a complete cone of silence and that all three levels of privacy would be completely protected.  In this scenario, no data would be tracked (and I would be unemployed).  Think of this like walking around a very large city with a cloak of invisibility on. You can interact with the world, but no one can see you.

The reality is that when you walk around a big city, people can see you. They may not know who you are or where you live, but you’re not invisible.

If you go into a large department store, you’re being recorded on security cameras. Much like most web tracking systems, the camera doesn’t know who you are, where you live, or what your credit card number is, just that you were there. If someone is paying attention they might also know that you looked at handbags and shoes before you left.

Why do stores have security cameras? To protect their merchandise and stop shoplifting. While the level of privacy is similar, online analysts use the information differently. It’s more akin to watching the security tapes to figure out that a lot of people are looking at hand bags and shoes, and therefore maybe we should move the handbags and shoes to the front of the store.

Does that really impinge on your privacy? Are you willing to give up that bit of privacy in order to get to the shoes and handbags more quickly without looking for a store directory? If it saves me 10 minutes of walking, I’d be all for it!

The same applies online and is at the heart of Marketing Sciences and web analytics. I want to make it easier for you to find that perfect handbag, so I watch the “security tapes” (online analytics data) to figure out how I can change my website to save you that 10 extra minutes of walking (surfing). This is level three browsing privacy and almost every website has this kind of tracking.

Now, what if a store could move the handbags to the front for you, and then change itself and put the snow tires at the front for your neighbor when he walks in, because he was looking at them yesterday? This magic store doesn’t know your neighbors name or where he lives, just that he was looking at snow tires recently. Imagine a magic store knowing what things you usually buy or are interest in and automatically shifting them all into one place up near the front! This is level two preference privacy, and some websites are starting to use this more effectively.

Would you be willing to give up level 2 information about the kind of things you like to enable the magic store? Well unless you’re specifically blocking these technologies, you actually already are without even knowing it.

While concerns about online privacy are valid, and are particularly important when speaking about children, I think there are some important points about web analytics data to understand.

• The data is anonymous, unless you specifically hand over your personal information.
• The data is collected in an attempt to improve the website experience.
• The genie is already out of the bottle. Total online privacy is possible but a big pain in the keester.

What do you think?