I recently read this article fom Econsultancy a few days ago. It implies that some people believe that Google is manipulating web statistics by having a visitor window of 6 months for campaigns (though it does acknowledge this setting can be changed as per these instructions). For those who don’t know what this means, here’s a quick summary:

1. You do a Google search, and see an AdWord campaign (those ads at the top and the right sidebar).
2. You click on one of them.
3. You arrive at a site.
4. You leave the site.
5. For the next 6 months, the original click you made on the that AdWord campaign will receive “credit” for your consequent visits regardless if you visit the site directly or via an AdWord campaign.

I watched as consipiracy theorists Tweeted ad nausium about Google hiding this little bit of information, and trying to manipulate the system in their favor. All I can say is, “Oh please”. Read more…

Rant, Web Analytics Professionalism