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Details of Microsoft's New Analytics Tool Leaked
hhavensteincw writes "Details of Microsoft's answer to Google's Analytics have leaked online. Screenshots have been posted on the Net of the new "Gatineau" Web analytics tool that Microsoft now says will be available in beta this summer. In a blog post, Microsoft's Ian Thomas also reveals that Microsoft will use Live ID (formerly Microsoft Passport) profiles to get its demographic data."
Not any more :)
Cancel.
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The article claims that they will use Live ID's to get demographic data including age and gender. The usefulness of this will be very limited. Who except hotmail users will have an active Live ID and be logged in? Out of those Hotmail users, how many of them will have the correct demographic data?
It wasn't "leaked", a word which gives it an aura of mystery it doesn't deserve. This is basically a press release, people! It's not like it's some big secret. The first time a corporation opens the kimono and shows off the latest new Microsoft ePenis it grew isn't a "leak". Stop it! Just stop abusing this. You're doing their marketing work for them!
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I admit that those are some cool looking graphs, but considering Microsoft's past experience with collecting XP, Zune, and Vista sales numbers, I dont know if I want to rely on them collecting any numbers that my business might just have to rely on.. That is just me, though... :-)
Or does microsoft rename all of their technologies when they realize how stale and unmarketable they are? Like OLE / ActiveX / DirectX, winfx / .net, microsoft messenger / windows messenger / msn messenger / windows live! messenger, others that I can't think of .... ... and now Passport > Live ID? Will Balmer change his name next?
Or is this going to be one of their 'All Our Own Work And So It Doesn't Work' pieces of crap?
In a blog post, Microsoft's Ian Thomas also reveals that Microsoft will use Live ID (formerly Microsoft Passport) profiles to get its demographic data.
Please tell me they won't monitor your browing habits while you're logged in on Passport. We had enough with Alexa.
Something else i get to block on my firewall.
damn that list is getting huge.
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exactly, you read my mind
Why would they name it after a Quebec city? Perhaps the relationship is phonetic, as in "We've got-a-no answers for you!"
Is it just me, or do Microsoft seem to not really innovate anymore?
...and now they feel the need to branch into all possible markets under the sun I'm getting kind nervous about their next move whatever it might be.
(if they ever did, yes I can see that one coming)
Everything I have seen in the last few years (Aero, Zune, Search) seems more of a copy of other peoples innovation and hard work. Call me naive but thats not what I would call innovation, more like skimming the results of other peoples marketing and work.
I only ask as this article was posted as "MS answer to Google's" and I'm seeing this an awful lot in the last few years....
They rename them when they get a bad reputation. As in
"Email Alert!
Due to the [OLE/ActiveX/DirectX, winfx/.net, microsoft messenger/windows messenger/msn messenger/windows live! messenger] security hole, please don't use feature XYZ in the product. And for god's sake, don't open any email at all. Ever. Even this one."
at:
www.softwareanalytics.com ?
I wonder if GOOGLE has looked at s/a.
THEIR stuff is KEWL. It has data-mining up the wazoo, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are the ones whose tool were used for federal stings. It can create deep associations based on banking records and other things, such as flight, phone, purchasing and other information. It was more impressive than scary, but still scary. They might still have available some kick-ass screen shots since I last saw them over 2 years ago..
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Ah a little misunderstanding there about Ballmer. Ballmer is his most recent name, he used to be called Bonzi-buddy.
No.
Ooooh, someone needs a wank!
Really? You have to go to that much trouble?
Don't even have to cancel what you never had.
(1) IE already "reports" back your search results for any URL you type in without "http://" (and according to some rumors/posts, IE7 does this with ALL URLs to verify the site isnt a phishing site).
(2) With their LiveID information (which can easily be tied to the above mentioned browsing habits via IE - as well as Vista's reporting to home tools), they have a decent amount of information on you to tie to your "browsing habits"
(3) EVERY MS Internet property states in the EULA that they have the right to use ANY content you send/upload/store on their service - and share with their "partners" as well - and sell for that matter.
(4) Combine all of these, and MS isn't doing web analytics in the fashion the term already means. They are simply logging ALL of your (IE) surfing habits, tying that to the identifiable information they already have on file for you (assuming you have a Dead-ID account - and possibly even if you dont - if you've activated/registered their software), and scanning your uploaded/stored/sent documents (emails, stuff on any other MS property) to collect information and then sell it to their advertising "partners".
(5) If it weren't for their EULA, this would not be legal. Of course, who is to say that their EULA is legal anyway? I still want to see that be dragged through court.
Normally web analytics does not include parsing your private information (in emails, posts, ALL surfing habits, etc), and using your (given thinking it would be safe) personally identifiable information (via Live-ID, Vista registration, etc) to provide services to others for the purposes of marketing and/or spamming. Unfortunately, the term still applies as it is a form of web-analytics... just in the worst, privacy violating way.
The real thing that should be debated here is how to prevent this - not whether or not their software/service will be good or not. Frankly, with all the information they are privy to, it is hard to see how even MS could mess this up - so that all is a moot point.
The potential for "private" information being used to (a) profile you, (b) make money off of you (by selling that info to someone else you dont want to have it), and/or (c) spam to you in the most personal way (considering they know far more about "you" via your surfing habits) - that's the scary part that should be discussed here.
At least I think so...
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I'm a 102 year old woman from Chicago with a Boston zipcode used on Zoom ( Oh-two-1-3-foooouuur ). Those demographics will be REALLY accurate.
meh
Well, Google analytics have everything you might need and more, come from Google and are used by pretty much everyone. That'll make it really hard for Microosft to overcome them. :)
I wouldn't mind testing it though... Who thought we needed another search engine before Google was developed?
I've started to integrate Google Analytics into some of my sites but I started to get nervous about tying my sites so closely to google. Plus many people block the analytics cookies. So I doubt I'll give Microsoft a second glance. However I have tried the Sourceforge project phpMyVisites which is really good, but has a bug that makes it less usable to me, and I can't seem to fix it.
Does anyone know a good free/open solution other than phpMyVisites that will give this kind of analytics/search referrer data?
I know that this kind of data is of only limited usefulness... but I have to give my clients what they ask for...
This will give webmaters a reason to reqire live id to access the site. I'm sure if it doesn't already exist, some API will be released as secure authentication tool, thus drawing everyone that much closer into the microsoft culture. One day we'll have only 5 corporations running everything. Microsoft Google Walmart Disney The US Government