from Hacker News

It’s Time to Ditch Google Analytics

by pauljarvis on 2/1/19, 3:11 PM with 37 comments

• by AndrewStephens on 2/1/19, 3:27 PM

  In my opinion, the whole idea of a third-party analytics system as they are currently implemented is incompatible with the idea of privacy. As soon as more than one site uses the same analytics system, then the company running the analytics system has aggregate data that the user did not consent to.

  As a site owner, it is disingenuous showing your users a banner that says "This site uses cookies to allow us to maintain state" while leaving out the part about "This site uses google analytics which allows Google to track you across sites and build nearly complete picture of every page you browse".

  The smaller hosted analytics systems claim to be more privacy oriented but I don't trust them either. Even with the best of intentions, sooner-or-later they will be sold or pivot. The data is just too valuable.

  I know that some sites live and die by close reading of analytics but most sites don't need anything as elaborate. I implemented a very simple page counter than I host myself but that is just for vanity. Most sites don't even need that.

• by minkeymaniac on 2/1/19, 4:31 PM

  Interesting.. do a view source and you find this on the page

    <script>
      (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
      (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
      m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
      })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
  
      ga('create', 'UA-4300461-2', 'auto');
      ga('create', 'UA-4300461-33', 'auto', {'name': 'rollup'});
      
        ga('rollup.set', 'dimension1', 'fastcompany');
      
        ga('rollup.set', 'dimension2', 'co-design');
      
        ga('rollup.set', 'dimension6', '2019-02-01');

• by ksec on 2/1/19, 6:21 PM

  The time to ditch GA was a long time ago, but over the years there wasn't even a single decent competitor that suits me.

  I stumble upon Reinvigorate.net, it has potential, but it was acquired by Adobe if I remember correctly.

  There was Gaug.es, it got acquired by Github, then it sat there and no more active development.

  There was Gosquared, I cant remember why it didn't fit ( Needs to look again )

  There was Clicky, one of the cheapest around, and does all tracking metrics you will need. Except the UI... doesn't really make you want to use it.

  The two shown in the article, Simple and Fathom, were lacking way too many information. Browser, Resolution, Devices, Location etc.

  The best thing that came out in the last few years were GoAccess. Self Hosted log analyser, except not everyone wants the hassle of setting it up.

  The closest thing to something I want would be Ghostboard, unfortunately it only works for Ghost.

• by skybrian on 2/1/19, 5:00 PM

  For all the complaining, can you point to anyone, anywhere, who has been harmed by Google Analytics?

  There are real issues with privacy, but the scaremongering sometimes seems to be independent of any actual harm to users.

• by ganeshkrishnan on 2/1/19, 4:33 PM

  An issue with other analytics is that it's hard to track Google ads performance as analytics is tightly integrated with Google ads which let's us know what keywords got signups etc.

  Google is embedded like a tick across the internet and getting rid of it is really really hard.

• by notjustanymike on 2/1/19, 4:41 PM

  There's always something rich about these articles being posted online. I promise you the author of the article has no control over the business decisions Fast Company is making. While he ethically believes what he's writing he also knows how completely impossible it is to actually change the business' mind.

  The only way a business changes is when there's a detectable impact on their income.

• by JohnFen on 2/1/19, 4:32 PM

  I ditched it a long time ago -- I block GA scripts along with all of the other trackers.

• by ljoshua on 2/1/19, 5:32 PM

  Does anyone know if Google uses GA data (in particular bounce rates, time-on-site, etc.) as signals in rankings? I've always wondered if the additional data gathered once a user clicks through from the SERP to the site was eventually factored in to the site's ranking. (For example, a faster site receiving better rankings.)