Direct Referrers in Google Analytics

A direct referrer is usually meant to indicate that your website URL was pasted or typed directly into a browser address bar.  While this is a useful stat, the growth of Twitter has started to skew this data.

Many links that are clicked via desktop applications such as Tweetdeck and Mail, and browser plugins like TwitterFox show up as direct referrers in Google Analytics.

WebTrends Outsider has a good list of reasons for “Direct Traffic” in referrer reports.

Manually Adding Analytics Data to Link

You can manually add query strings to your URL that will provide referrer data to the Google Analytics code in a website page.

For example, when I broadcast a message on Twitter stating that I have a new blog post, I use the following:

New Blog Post: Vanity Analytics http://www.jambrose.ca/vanity-analytics/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=blog RT SVP

This pretty ugly, so I shorten the URL with bit.ly:

New Blog Post: Vanity Analytics http://bit.ly/QuWlH RT SVP

When someone clicks that link, the following is recorded in Google Analytics:

Creating a Vanalytics URL

Now that you have control over how your referrers are recorded in your Google Analytics, why not spam someone elses?

For example, when I retweet a great Twitter post, I use the following:

RT @TheOnion New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time http://www.theonion.com/content/video/new_live_poll_allows_pundits_to?utm_source=@jaysonambrose&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=retweet Super funny!

Shortened (check out the video, too):

RT @TheOnion New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time http://bit.ly/16kLMW Super funny!

This makes my name appear in Google Analyics for The Onion!

Since The Onion already adds their own query strings to their tweets, I would leave it as a matter of ettiquette.

But if you are just sharing a link with your Twitter followers, why not take some credit for spreading the word?

Of course, there is good chance no one will see your tag on a large website’s analytics, but it might get noticed on a bloggers list.

I admit this is a goofy idea, but I thought it would be fun to coin Vanalytics and Spamalytics!

Can you think of some funny, smart or easter-egg-style Spamalytics?

Sirius

Last year, I purchased a lightly used 2008 Ford Escape Limited. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase of this vehicle, and I’m not surprised that Ford might live through this downturn and arise stronger on the upswing. One sweet perk was that I got a six month free trial of Sirius satellite radio.

I was pretty underwhelmed after hearing all the hoopla about Sirius.  My first observation was that I had missed the days of satellite radio with real selection. Clearly the playlists have been consolidated into the same shit as terrestrial radio, and on talk stations, there are just as many if not more ads as the FM dial.

Although I did enjoy the ultra-right-wing political rants on FOX and Patriot 101 (really, its high entertainment), I wasn’t satisfied with my buck-bang. So when my beloved Republican Crazies when silent one day, I called up Sirius to negotiate.

Sirius: Thank you for holding, this is Lola. How can I help you?
Jambrose: Hi! My 6-month trial is done. How can I get this going again?
Sirius: That will be $15.00 per month on your credit card, Sir.
Jambrose: Gulp. Really? Wow. That’s a lot. I don’t see that happening.
Sirius: Silence.
Jambrose: I mean, I like a couple channels only. Can we make a deal here?
Sirius: It’s $15.00 per month, Sir.
Jambrose: Yeah, but c’mon. Tell you what, you can charge my card right now, one year for $100. Whadaya say?
Sirius: It’s $15.00 per month, Sir.
Jambrose: So I can’t get a better deal?
Sirius: Sorry, it’s $15.00 per month, Sir.
Jambrose: Ok, then. Thanks. I’ll go ahead and not get that.
Sirius: Is there anything else I can do for you today, Sir?
Jambrose: Uh… No. That’s plenty, thanks.
Sirius: Thank you for calling Sirius and have a nice day.

The kicker is that when I initiated the trial, they got my email address. Over the course of the 6 months, and ever since, I’ve never received an email from Sirius.  Surely, the “primary person responsible solely for the winning back of any and all lost customers, as well as the non-converted trial customers via the online media player and Automotive trial subscriptions” is now unemployed (if he ever existed).  I wonder if this keen new hire will be calling me?

Audible

My deal with Audible was typical: I pay a reasonable amount monthly, and I get to download one book per month. There is nothing wrong with Audible, but after a couple months, I found I didn’t have enough time to actually listen to my books. I did find the ass-pain of putting the books on my Blackberry annoying, but I made it work. I’ll save my “DRM is Stupid” blog post for less topic-saturated times.

Via the Audible website, I chose to close my account. Here’s how that went:

Jambrose: I’m done, close my account.
Audible: Are you sure? Check out all these new books you are sure to like!
Jambrose: Nah, close my account.
Audible: Ok, I hear you. Maybe we can change your mind with a $20 gift voucher?
Jambrose: No thanks, it’s not the price. Close my account.
Audible: Hey. We get it. Maybe you don’t have a lot of time of listen to books. What if we just put your account on hold for the next three months? No charge. We’ll send you a reminder, and you can decide then if you really want to quit. In the meantime, have a free download.
Jambrose: Well… That makes sense. Let’s do that.

Customer retained. At least for now.

That was less than three months ago, but I get email from Audible once per week, telling me about new books, new site features, higher quality recordings, etc… I’ll be more than happy to give it another go when my account is reactivated.

I’m curious to see how it will play out when I quit again though…

Honestly though, a great viral marketing campaign!

Apple intends to court these baby-boomer shoppers by offering support for their current peripherals.  The new Mac Mini will have PS2 ports for mouse and keyboard, an SVGA port, and even an LPT and serial port.  This picture was leaked from Cupertino:

Google News Alert for: social networking

Expert business advice on using Facebook as a marketing tool
BigNews.biz (press release) – Natick,MA,USA
While some businesses are beginning to use social networking sites in their marketing efforts, most business experts say that few companies are investing …

Word repetition: 

Business = 34

Expert = 13

Facebook = 8

Social networking = 6

If only I knew a social networking Facebook business expert.  I would be an expert at Facebook business and social networking and could start a social networking and Facebook business if I did.

“It’s actually a blessing in disguise”, said CEO Amanda Hugginkis. “Now we can quickly change gears and, depending on the meeting we are in, call ourselves Blonk, Blank, Blenk or Blunk. Oh, and sometimes Blynk.”

Honestly, though… It’s a nice site!

You can see all comments on this post, and the story from the REAL CEO here:

Women flock to social networking sites! The use of social networking is rising dramatically!

Use of social network sites decreases! Internet consumers may be scaling down their use of social networking sites…!

The pitfalls of social networking! Top 5 Social Networking Sites for Tweens!

You know your sector is where the cool kids hang out when you get these contrasts in a single Google Alert.

Web 2.0 will be defined as the era when user interaction technologies were fleshed out, tested and refined. I don’t, however think that Facebook will be around (in the same position) in the next two years, MySpace will probably be a digital ghetto where weirdos try to seduce noobs and we will generally be burned out hearing about every turd of data about our friends. In fact I am one of many people who are doing their best to not become a digital pariah.

Then the pendulum will swing back, and we will have found some useful applications for this powerful technology such as law enforcement, public safety, research, education and even quality entertainment.

It certainly looks like bubble 2.0, but most of us will be around to play with the next round of toys.

Apparently, the Vista upgrade required major hardware upgrades and had numerous compatibility issues with the Airbus 319 architecture.

The Toronto Star reported the following:

“Passengers screamed and hit the ceiling as Air Canada Flight 190 plunged thousands of metres through the sky during 15 seconds of terror yesterday that became the longest moments in Liam King’s life.

“It was really quick … but it felt like an eternity,” said King, one of 88 people on board the aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing in Calgary after it bucked in midair, violently pitching people, dishes and drink carts about the cabin.”

When asked to comment, Air Canada’s Director of Information Technology, Chris P. Bacon, stated,

“We checked with the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List, and did not find any issues. We thought it would be fine, and it was. Though we did need to double the RAM, and upgrade our video output devices on the Airbus.”

During an incident debriefing, the pilot of flight 109, Hugh Jass, made the following comments:

“About 30 minutes into the flight, the frontal defibble nozzle and the tecumba tapar gear suddenly stopped responding.

“We received a message on our HUD (Heads Up Display) that read:

“Your keyboard is not responding. Press any key to continue.”

“We immediately ran the Windows Virus Detection application. It quickly detected itself, and asked if I wanted to remove it.”

“I hit ok, and it began to format the C: drive! I tried ctrl-alt-del, but I knew we were fucked.”

According to previous Airbus 319 passengers, the Vista upgrade was noticeable, but not without a price.

“The windows seemed… I don’t know, fancier?”, said Newfoundland and Labrador passenger Amanda Hugginkiss.

“The in-flight movie was choppy, and my tray table kept asking me for a password.”

Our reporters attempted to contact Microsoft Technical Support, but even after entering our credit card number, we could only leave a message. We did receive a call back however, which were able to record: