Google Analytics & Omniture Discrepancies
-
I am seeing a significant difference between my traffic numbers in Google Analytics and Omniture (Omniture has significantly more). I do not expect them to report exactly the same numbers but these are just too far off. Any idea why that is, or which one I should trust more?
Thanks!
-
I found this article to be exceptionally helpful in answering the same question
http://www.knowonlineadvertising.com/discrepancy-between-omniture-and-google-analytics/
-
You get a belated thumbs up from me for that comment.
-
Thanks for the responses guys. I am aware that the different tools will have different numbers, but the scale of the difference is what concerns me. We have a difference of about 400 visits for a site that only gets around 1,000 visits per month (not enough for GA sampling to take effect). So the results of our marketing campaigns can have very different results depending on which tool I decide to believe.
For what it's worth Tom, I hate Omniture as well.
-
To add to Irving's point - seeing as you're using Omniture I'll assume that your website will be pulling in a number of visitors. The free version of GA, when faced with a lot of data, will use sampled data, effectively a % of your data, to give you a quicker report. It's accuracy varies, and you musn't forget that it is an aggregated score.
I harbour resentment to omniture (unreliable reporting, filters that break, generally inaccurate data, gone downhill since Adobe etc.), but you should get more accurate results with it.
-
Agreed.
-
you always will see differences between analytics tools. it has to do in the way they calculate their metrics. for instance unique visitors are based on how long the cookie lives. Omniture and GA will have different expiration times and therefore report differently. it doesn't matter which you use, just choose one for main reporting and stick with it, since omniture is an enterprise solution and you pay a lot for it i would use omniture for main reporting if i were you.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Important updates on Google Analytics Data Retention and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Hi Everyone, I'm sure many of you received the email from Google over the past few days with the subject line: [Action Required] Important updates on Google Analytics Data Retention and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I hope I'm not alone in not knowing what exactly this whole notification was in regards to. I realize it's for Data but are we no longer able to pull stats from the past? If anyone has a "dumbed down" explanation for what this update entails, I would be very interested - I don't want to miss out on any important updates and info, but I'm just not grasping this content. Below is the full email in its entirety for those who are interested as well: Dear Google Analytics Administrator,
Reporting & Analytics | | MainstreamMktg
Over the past year we've shared how we are preparing to meet the requirements of the GDPR, the new data protection law coming into force on May 25, 2018. Today we are sharing more about important product changes that may impact your Google Analytics data, and other updates in preparation for the GDPR. This e-mail requires your attention and action even if your users are not based in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Product Updates
Today we introduced granular data retention controls that allow you to manage how long your user and event data is held on our servers. Starting May 25, 2018, user and event data will be retained according to these settings; Google Analytics will automatically delete user and event data that is older than the retention period you select. Note that these settings will not affect reports based on aggregated data.
Action: Please review these data retention settings and modify as needed.
Before May 25, we will also introduce a new user deletion tool that allows you to manage the deletion of all data associated with an individual user (e.g. site visitor) from your Google Analytics and/or Analytics 360 properties. This new automated tool will work based on any of the common identifiers sent to Analytics Client ID (i.e. standard Google Analytics first party cookie), User ID (if enabled), or App Instance ID (if using Google Analytics for Firebase). Details will be available on our Developers site shortly.
As always, we remain committed to providing ways to safeguard your data. Google Analytics and Analytics 360 will continue to offer a number of other features and policies around data collection, use, and retention to assist you in safeguarding your data. For example, features for customizable cookie settings, privacy controls, data sharing settings, data deletion on account termination, and IP anonymization may prove useful as you evaluate the impact of the GDPR for your company’s unique situation and Analytics implementation.
Contract And User Consent Related Updates
Contract changes
Google has been rolling out updates to our contractual terms for many products since last August, reflecting Google’s status as either data processor or data controller under the new law (see full classification of our Ads products). The new GDPR terms will supplement your current contract with Google and will come into force on May 25, 2018.
In both Google Analytics and Analytics 360, Google operates as a processor of personal data that is handled in the service.
• For Google Analytics clients based outside the EEA and all Analytics 360 customers, updated data processing terms are available for your review/acceptance in your accounts (Admin ➝ Account Settings).
• For Google Analytics clients based in the EEA, updated data processing terms have already been included in your terms.
• If you don’t contract with Google for your use of our measurement products, you should seek advice from the parties with whom you contract.
Updated EU User Consent Policy
Per our advertising features policy, both Google Analytics and Analytics 360 customers using advertising features must comply with Google’s EU User Consent Policy. Google's EU User Consent Policy is being updated to reflect new legal requirements of the GDPR. It sets out your responsibilities for making disclosures to, and obtaining consent from, end users of your sites and apps in the EEA.
Action: Even if you are not based in the EEA, please consider together with your legal department or advisors, whether your business will be in scope of the GDPR when using Google Analytics and Analytics 360 and review/accept the updated data processing terms as well as define your path for compliance with the EU User Consent Policy.
Find Out More
You can refer to privacy.google.com/businesses to learn more about Google’s data privacy policies and approach, as well as view our data processing terms.
We will continue to share further information on our plans in the coming weeks and will update relevant developer and help center documentation where necessary.
Thanks,
The Google Analytics Team6 -
Google Analytics / Facebook UTM
Hello, I have a quick question. I am setting up conversion tracking for my Facebook ads, so I am giving each ad set a tracking URL (UTM) in order to see which ads are converting etc. Is it possible to see on analytics how much I am spending on these ads or a cost per conversion? Or does the tracking merely track general analytics data such as bounce rate, exit rate, revenue generated etc? Kind Regards, James
Reporting & Analytics | | SO_UK0 -
How do you analyze a traffic drop with no historic Google Analytics data?
A client of mine has a large website with multiple sections (shop, forums, articles, etc.) that apparently had a significant reduction in rankings, traffic, and sales in the past. However, historic Google Analytics data is not available for the site, and I'm having troubles identifying anything concrete about the traffic drop, such as when it happened, what pages/sections it happened to, etc. The shop traffic drives most of the revenue, but it's a small number compared to the forums traffic, so it's hard to pick anything out of top-line trends like SEMrush offers. What tools or strategies might help in this situation?
Reporting & Analytics | | AdamThompson0 -
Which one should I use...Google Analytics or AFS Analytics
Hi There, I am about to implement analytics for a customer site and I am wondering if I should use Google Analytics or https://www.afsanalytics.com ? I am leaning towards Google since it's pretty mainstream but I would love some feedback on the AFS ! Thanks everyone! Gary
Reporting & Analytics | | gdavey0 -
Why is Google Analytics reporting 20% fewer goals than Unique pageviews of same thank you page?
This is really puzzling me and my research has not thrown out the answer. I have always understood URL goals to be unique pageviews of the thank you page you are tracking. UPVs and goals should both only be counted once per session... Has anyone else seen this issue? Goals were not set up historically so I wanted to use unique pageviews of the thank you page for year on year comparisons, but 20% is a big difference! Background There are multiple pages to track so goal is set up using Regex There is no mistake in the goal set up (honest!) The goal URLs all match the unique pageview URLs, there are no rogue URLs There has been no change to the site or the tracking set up Data is not being sampled It's a lead gen site in an area where multiple enquiries within one visit would be very unusual Thanks in advance!
Reporting & Analytics | | McCannSEO0 -
Linking Multiple Niche Site In Same Google Analytics Account
Hi, I am providing SEO for Local business. Is it advisable to separate out the Google Analytics into different Google account or is it ok to remain it this way? Some of the client might be in the same niche, and might be competing with the same keywords as well. What I was worried is, Google might see these sites as same owner and only rank for 1 of the site. I was thinking to get the owners to register for their own Google Analytics and share the access to me.
Reporting & Analytics | | JonathanSoh0 -
Google Analytics Campaigns
I need the help of a smart Mozzer. In Google Analytics: Traffic Sources>Sources>Campaigns all the results shown are from RSS. Can anyone help me with why RSS results would be displayed in Campaigns?
Reporting & Analytics | | waynekolenchuk0 -
How to Track Google Local Places in Google Analytics?
I have read many articles on how to track google local places through google analytics. Each article I have read show a different way of setting up google analytics and using tags in google local places. Wondering if anyone as up to date information on this and what would be the best practice to track data from google local lisitngs in google analytics Thanks Arthur
Reporting & Analytics | | VivaArturo0