How to Analyze Site Traffic with Google Analytics 0 comments

To analyze web site traffic with Google Analytics you will.....

first have to add the Analytics code to your blog template. To do this go to Google Analytics and register with your Google account. It is free and has no limitations. On the Analytics Settings page click on '+ Add Website Profile' link in the top frame of the Website Profiles box. This takes you to the ' Create New Website Profile' page.

Paste the URL of your blog/site in the text box under ' Add a Profile for a new domain '. Select the timezone of your country and click on Finish. A new page opens where you are presented with the code to be pasted in your template. Right click in the text box and Select All and then left click in the shaded section and select Copy. Go to Edit Html under Template tab in your blog after logging in to Dashboard and clicking on your blog name. Scroll down in Edit Template text box and paste the code copied from Google Analytics at the very end of the template just before the tag. Save Template Changes. Republish.

Go back to Google Analytics main Settings page and you will find your site/blog listed. Click on the confirm link to confirm that you have added the code to your blog and Google Analytics will start receiving data.

To see the reports go to Google Analytics Settings page click the down arrow in the text box 'Click to select Website Profile' next to 'View Reports' in the orange bar running across the top of the page. Select the blog url for which you want to view reports. The default 'Executive Overview' page of Reports of your site opens. The page is divided into two main parts : A

sidebar and a main column titled Executive Overview. Click the image alongside for a bigger view. The sidebar contains the Dashboards where youcan select the views you want to see, the All Reports section showing optimization for Marketing and for Content and lastlya Date Range section where you can select a date range for which to view reports.

The main column of Executive Overview is divided into four parts. The top left rectangle show Visits and Pageviews for the last week. The top right rectangle show how many visits were by New and how many by Returning visitors as a percentage of the total visits that week. The bottom left recangle shows a Geo Map Overlay showing the international distribution of your visitors that week. The bottom right shows the Visits by Source that week showing the sites your visitors came from.

Some other useful site counters can be found at :

http:/www.statcounter.com
http:/www.clustrmaps.com
http://sitemeter.sitetoolbox.com/
http://awstats.sourceforge.net/......Free

Google Against Internet Traffic Chokers 0 comments

Google has begun offering tools to expose internet services providers (ISPs) that choke traffic or shift users into show lanes while allowing others to zip along at high speeds.The online search and advertising king is unabashed champion of net neutrality in which all internet traffic is treated equally instead of letting service providers give preferential treatment to privileged clients.
Google worked with New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and Academic researches to create an online Measurement Lab (M-Lab) that researchers can use to detect internet traffic manipulation.
M-Lab went online for last month with three diagnostic tools running on computer servers near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.The Tools can help users diagnose commong problems that might impair their broadband speed.ISPs such as Comcast have sparked controversy by clandestinely throtting some traffic such as peer-to-peer file sharing.
ISPs argue that such measures are necessary to manage growing congestion on the internet highway.Google has been among those advocating against fettering online traffic, saying that doing so stifles internet innovations and growth.More Diagnostic tools will be added and results made public.

Top Tech Companies Sued for Using...Icons? 0 comments

A Michigan company is suing tech giants Microsoft, Google, and Apple for patent infringement for using thumbnail icons to represent files.

Michigan's Cygnus Systems, Inc., a company focused on networking support and development, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit (PDF) against Microsoft, Apple, and Google for&mash;get this—using icons to represents files. But not just any icons: representational thumbnails that reflect the onscreen display of a particular document or file. Such miniaturized thumbnails are now a common feature of many software products, including Apple's Finder and iTunes software (think Cover Flow), Windows Explorer, and Google's Chrome browser—and if Cygnus is willing to go after those three companies, they might be considering action against Adobe and Opera (which have products with similar interfaces) and even Web-based music and photo services like Amazon's MP3 Store and Flickr which, after all, offer thumbnail representations of files.

Cygnus applied for the patent, number 7,346,850, way back in June, 1998, but it was only granted in March of 2008. Since then, presumably, the company has been trying to get companies (like Apple, Google, and Microsoft) to license the patent, but apparently no agreements could be reached, so the company has filed suit. Cygnus Systems is seeking an injunction to prevent other companies from infringing on its patent, along with damages and fees. Interestingly, the company is seeking damages back to the date the infringement began, which in many cases would land substantially before Cygnus's patent was granted.

If the case goes to trial, industry watchers expect the legal teams of the targeted companies will attempt to have Cygnus's patent invalidated on the basis of prior art: numerous instances of representational thumbnail icons for files existed on numerous operating systems prior to Cygnus's 1998 patent application, and the technique was employed by several companies including Apple and Adobe.

Apple and Microsoft declined to comment on the suit; Google and Cygnus Systems could not be reached for comment.

Google Lets People Create Custom Virtual Realms 0 comments

Google has rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life with free software that lets people create their own online three dimensional worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online functions.
Lively by Google lets people place virtual rooms on websites,customize "avatars" to be online proxies,and decorate their fantasy worlds with photos or streaming videos from Youtube,Picasa or other online Sources.
The offering is challenge to Second Life and other animated online worlds that require memberships and don't let people take their creations elsewhere on the internet.
With Lively,a user can adapt his personal online realm to his own imagination.Examples shown include hip flats,sprawling ranches,and rooftops backed and cityscapes.
Lively users can invite friends' avatars over for visits by sending them online room addresses via email or instant messages,according to Google engineering manager Niniane Wang Lively code is available at www.Lively.com and application has been customized for the social networking website Facebook.