After we caught up for a pre-conference chat yesterday at  “The Cheesecake Factory” of Palo Alto with various LATAM and Spanish partners, we were progressively bombarded with an absolute mountain of interesting information throughout the first day.

Conscious of the great expectation that each edition of the GACP Summit brings, and after having received the corresponding (and exceptional) authorization on behalf of Google to share some content, we want to inform you of what happened during the first days of the event:

Universal Analytics

Google presented us with Universal Analytics as a completely different alternative to what we are already familiar with in measurement: If we know which users access and navigate our website with different devices (tablets, smartphones, PC, TV, consoles, etc.)… Why then don’t we stop measuring visits and start to measure users? And furthermore, if we can do so without storing “personal data”, why do we not?

This is precisely what the Google Analytics team has proposed to us today.

Universal Analytics functions through a new measurement protocol that, through an API, allows us to send data to Google Analytics servers from any system and/or device.

User- ID Control

Since from now on, we will focus on users, Google announced User-ID Control as a mechanism for accounting for and measuring different sessions and devices. The idea is that we use “something” that allows Google Analytics to aggregate all of the information associated with a user independent of the device with which they navigate. This “something” could be a CRM ID or any other identifier or common element that allows us to identify visitors in an anonymous way.

This could result in “Multi-Device” reports with a list of devices used in different visits of a user, in the same mode that we access the Multi-Channels Funnels to understand the different campaigns that the visitor has accessed before converting.

Offline Conversions.

Conversions don’t always occur on the website.

Daily, we are faced with numerous cases in which a user has come to now about a product or service through the website, but decided to finalize the transaction when speaking by phone. A clear case of this is the famous “call me”.

For this reason- and any other that produces a similar scenario- Google Analytics has announced the possibility of tracking offline conversions through three simple steps:

1. Send a “hit” from any offline environment, for example from the CRM (remembering the new measurement protocol).
2. Link hits with those of a website user through the ID.
3. Measure those hits as goals.

Dimension Widening

During the first trimester of 2012, Google will officially launch this interesting functionality that we have often wished for.

Dimension Widening will not require a specific implementation in the tracking code as it is treated simply as an “upload” of data to the Google Analytics server through a CSV file that we export from, for example, the CRM or from a Content Management System (CMS).

In this simple manner, we will be able to make information available in the following manner:

User-ID: 123456

Sex: Female

Age: 25 years

Custom Dimensions

Custom Dimensions can be understood as a new version of the Custom Variables. Distinct from the latter, Custom Dimensions will require a specific configuration in the Google Analytics administration console (apart from a specific tag similar to that of Custom Variables).

Another interesting update in this respect is that the Free version makes 20 Custom Dimensions available instead of the 5 that we normally find, and the Premium version has 200. This significantly reduces the distance between the free tool and paid tools (SiteCatalyst, Coremetrics, Comscore, etc.) in respect with segmentation capacities.

Lastly, Custom Dimensions will be available for the creation of personalized reports, advanced segments, and as a secondary dimension in standard Google Analytics reports.

Other updates

To put the icing on the cake, apart from this great wave of updates, we will shortly have some other functionalities presented during the first session of the Summit. As you can see, as they did not appear in this “cul de sac” they are perhaps less relevant than the previous:

• Models for the assignation of merit (or “attribution”) available for all users and with the possibility to view up to 90 days back: sign up for the private beta
• Possibility to import costs from any campaign: sign up for the private beta
• Campaign Management: making life easier with a unique ID and providing the famous UTM tags.
• Customer Lifetime Value Reports: it seems as if here we will not find just another of the host of newly born solutions specifically for this purpose.

In short, the conference is only just starting and we have many expectations for tomorrow: as we believe it will promise even more that the first day has (at least this is what we have come to expect after attending other GA events). That said, what we see tomorrow will be confidential and for this reason we will not be able to share the news so quickly.

In the meantime, what do you think of these updates? Would you like to attend some in-person sessions in Madrid and Barcelona for an overview of all the updates? Stay tuned to our blog for more updates.

Eroding at their previous dominance as the source for daily has been the dispersion of audiences among the multitude of online news sources. Newspapers themselves have contributed to this movement away from print copies by posting online articles and allowing free access for years. Furthermore, many other new sources have also come to be regarded as substitutes for print newspapers. Most notably is Social Media which has been growing in significance due to its propensity to provide users with news in real time.

Changing consumer behaviors are also responsible for a large part of the decline in print subscriptions as news consumers have come to value: multimedia contents, access on a number of devices including smartphones and tablets, a new writing style, free access to contents and the ability to ´share´ these.

A snapshot of the current situation for print newspapers

So how has an institution which has been so entrenched in society for so long come to lose its significance?

Many have been strong to criticize the industry for their failure to predict the power of the internet, some have blamed newspapers themselves for providing initial online offerings of free content and failing to monetize in a timely fashion. None, however, can deny the devastating effects on an industry who is struggling to find their identity in a world where their traditional characteristics are no longer valued and they are being forced to entirely reinvent themselves.

And how are newspapers attempting to overcome these challenges?

Recent examples of attempts at overcoming low subscription bases and decreasing advertising revenue have mostly focused on online solutions. Although some offline experimentation has been undertaken for example with reduced frequency of print publications, online solutions centered on encouraging consumers pay for online contents without grossly alienating them have been more common. Many newspapers have implemented different versions of three distinct strategies: paywalls, digital bundling and flexible subscription packages.

As time passes and these systems mature we will see many new and creative ways to overcome these obstacles facing newspapers. It seems likely that for success these will need to wholeheartedly embrace new systems and technology.

For more information on the decline and prospects for the industry, see Industry Report: The Future of the News Industry

The reader is the catalyst for change as we are showing preference for immediacy and variety as well as a strong disposition towards multimedia complements to written news, such as images and videos. Furthermore, today´s reader often consumes news sporadically and rapidly demanding that news pieces cater to shorter attention spans and systems that allow multiple pieces to be read in sequence or concurrently, such as Google Reader for example.

Finally, news consumers often have multiple and more sophisticated devices and devices as well as more complete access to internet than ever before allowing for news consumption on mass. Although laptop computers remain the leading portable device for consuming online news with 69.9%, mobile phones and tablets are both demonstrating impressive growth at 16.6% and 4.5% respectively at present.

All of these factors have led to a dispersion of audiences rendering traditional print advertising campaigns in print newspapers and magazines much less effective and cost efficient than online advertising and therefore online ad revenues have reduced significantly since their heyday in 2005. This loss of both audience and advertising revenue has forced the press industry to search for alternative revenue models and at present the industry is undergoing a period of experimentation when numerous models are being implemented with varying success.

Paywalls

Some newspapers have elected to implement online paywalls under a “freemium” model where readers are brought in with free basic contents and hopefully converted into paying customers to access premium or exclusive contents. Paywalls have been greeted with mixed feelings, and different paywalls structures are being tried, which differ on:

–       Restriction capacitiy

–       Price

–       Level of social media access

Although the levvy of payments on formerly free contents has been met with some resistance, initial success has been experienced with the “metered” paywalls of the New York Times and The Economist, the former for example has announced that in its first 4 months the system had added 400 thousand paying subscriber and in August 2011 had reached 1 million.

Digital Bundling

Another method which has been explored is digital bundling, which can improve the customer experience across multiple subscriptions and multiple devices. Two stand-out examples of this are the Spanish solution of “Kiosko y Más” and the Slovakian case.

In “Kiosko y Más”, consumers can access news from the majority of Spanish news agencies including 30 newspapers and 60 magazines through one subscription. Publishers have retained autonomy in pricing decisions and do not have to distribute exclusively through this channel. The benefits to consumers include the ability to download articles as pdf documents, to access documents from multiple devices, to share articles on social media and maintain access to multiple subscriptions allowing for diversity of contents.

Slovakia, on the other hand, has implemented a collaborative national paywall of 9 of its major outlets working in conjunction to maintain profitability. It is based on a flat subscription fee which includes access to all of the major news sources participating and although has been met by some criticism due to the “iron curtain” it has built around the country´s major news sources, it has shown early success, in part due to the low cost of subscriptions. Many of the associated companies have even seen increases in readership through the initiative. Although thus far success has been strong, the propensity for this system to work in larger, more disparate, and demographically varied populations seems doubtful.

Reduced Frequency

Other media outlets have opted to reduce their frequency of publication to attempt to maintain the quality of journalism. But this again may meet criticism where consumers have come to expect real-time news.

The news industry which has previously competed on quality, exclusivity and brand has been forced to completely rethink their competitive environment and strategy to factor in online threats and opportunities. This shift has drastically impacted upon their performance management process as they have been forced to collect data from an increasing amount of sources and create new Key Performance Indicators to monitor their progress.

Future opportunities will take many forms and most likely be highly dependent on technology and may include apps, greater focus on local news and integration with amateur writers such as blogger.

What opportunities do you think will arise?

After attending the marathon that was eMetrics London, over November 30 and December 1, it is impossible to argue that our industry is not moving in the right direction, or that it is not laying the groundwork for a prosperous future. After years of struggle and devotion, of conferences, events and speeches in which colleagues from around the world have tried (and continue trying) to instil the foundation of this discipline to which we belong, web analytics is a now becoming a reality in corporate environments.

As the online market settles, no company wants nor should avoid this new sales channel. And as in the offline market profits are what are coveted, but in order to achieve them we must understand the results of our online actions. Even more important, however, are the issues it draws out: such as what is not working, where are we losing potential clients, sales, loyalty, etc. When we understand where we are going wrong, we can make changes and prosper. It is this constant improvement in your online activities that should dominate your strategy for the Optimization of the online channel.

However, the web analyst does not often gain the respect he deserves, often being considered a mere reporter of data. Whether due to a lack of resources or lack of organizational understanding, many consider web analysts to be incapable of developing the complexity of their work (analyzing data, proposing actions, checking results, etc). They are forced to submit excessive quantities of documents. Hence, the Web Analytics Association, as explained the events founder, Jim Sterne, is attempting to orient all of the components which this discipline comprises towards the word Optimization.

The speech of Paul Francis and the final gathering of Dave Chaffey, Matthew Tod and Steve Jackson, made it clear that in the measurement of the online channel, the presence of the technical component is fundamental. It is essential to support the technical specialists who are entrusted with the complete implementation of the tool and in the later extraction of data and presentation of reports (logically based on company requirements and objectives- as measuring for measurement´s sake is never valuable). Thus creating the base upon which web analysts can successfully carry out their function. Paul Francis, Head of Commercial Systems at Domino´s Pizza Group, further expanded the scope of the necessity to implement integration of the IT team within the Online Marketing Department. Integration can be facilitated by intermediate figures who can ensure quality communication and technical members can be given the opportunity understand the business knowledge from the Marketers and apply it to future designs and implementations, translating as a global benefit throughout the hierarchy of the organization.

Remarkable also, was the discussion between Vicky Brock, Dave Evans and Brian Clifton, together with the collaboration of Dr. Simon Miller (Head of Telecoms Regulation and E-Privacy, Department for Culture, Media and Sport) about the European e-privacy Directive, in which they discussed the new law for the regulation of Cookies that became effective in the United Kingdom 26 May of this year. In this document it is specified that the use of cookies must be carried out only under the explicit consent of the client, and cannot be stored in their navigator once rejected. This causes the inability to identify said users in subsequent visits, where they will be counted as new visitors, making it difficult (or impossible) to understand user behavior. Before the affront of questions by the audience, demonstrating distress with the decision and trying to expose the problems it brings, Dr. Simon Miller attempted to defend the position they have adopted in his responses, based on complaints by both associations and those concerned with privacy. And one phrase used to defend the stance and clarify that cookies are not the only system to identify users should be emphasized: “implied consent is a perfectly valid form of consent”.

The list of impressive speakers who provided profound reflection on our industry continues, headed by Jim Sterne, and followed by speakers of the likes of Tom Betts, Ross Jenkins, Bryan Eisenberg and Neil Mason, who among others, have given the audience a better opportunity to appreciate their knowledge and experience. Furthermore, the more intimate and participatory nature of the conference gave attendees the opportunity to resolve their doubts, and have an even more valuable experience.

Therefore we should thank all of the attendees, both speakers and audience, for contributing to the continual advancement of the discipline, conceived years ago by those who believed in the value of web analytics, and those who will continue to work on its consolidation.

NB: this post will act as the first of a series: it gives a general outline whilst the coming posts will take an in-depth look at each industry.

There can be no denying that the print news industry has been massively disrupted by the proliferation of the online news channel. This disruption has been quick and severe:

The golden days for print media culminated in advertising revenue of 47.4 billion dollars in early 2005, whilst at the end of 2010 it was only worth roughly 22.8 billion dollars.

The fast decline of a media that had been so entrenched in society for centuries is simply astounding. But it is not unique, its story and the severity of its impact are now being repeated among other traditional media and entertainment industries as the online channel gains momentum.

The book publishing industry, for example, also appears to be vulnerable. While there is much evidence on the growth of electronic book sales, traditional printed book sales information is hard to come by.

Comparing Q3 sales data for US Trade Wholesale Electronic Book Sales, we see an increase of 5181% over 5 years between 2005 and 2010.

Although the value of this statistic in explaining the decline of the traditional book industry can be disputed: as perhaps these electronic book sales acted as complements and not substitutes for traditional print books, or perhaps these electronic sales were made to consumers who would not have purchased print books anyway, the potential for disruption within the industry is clear.

The music industry is also struggling to maintain profitability through some activities which were previously lucrative, in its struggle against online sharing and illegal online distribution.

Cnet boldly states that “music CDs will be dead in 14 months” and Tom Conrad, Pandora´s CTO has stated that “´Over half of the U.S. doesn’t pay anything for music each year´… and another 40% of the population only pay about $15 a year.”

These disruptions are not merely due to technological innovation, which are simplifying and reducing the costs of online content provision compared to offline, but also due to changing consumer expectations- notably the expectation of free content which has the potential to disrupt a great number of other industries.

So what can we expect for other traditional media and entertainment industries? Will they suffer similar falls?

The next industry to face serious competition from its online counterparts appears to be the television industry. Disruption of this industry which brings in $75 billion of advertising revenue would lead to huge consequences for those involved.

Whilst cable and free to air television have been in direct competition for many years and have both sustained their profitability, what will be the impact of new initiatives such as Apple TV and Google TV, most especially with their recent YouTube acquisition, on the traditional television industry? Will it become obsolete? What can television do to save itself? Or will it be required to completely reinvent itself?

But while we are yet to see a huge disruption to this traditional channel, one cannot doubt the potential threat of the online channel to traditional televisions success.

Do you believe that Internet TV will overtake the traditional channel in terms of viewers, advertising revenue and profitability to become entrenched in consumer culture? Will this process be rapid or gradual? And will this change, if it is to occur, be aided by and accompanied by further increases in user-generated content?

Keep tuned for the industry-specific posts, starting with the print news industry.

“Without data, you are just another person with an opinion.” -Andreas Schleicher

Many large enterprises are attributing their success to their performance management programs which are built upon data. Successful online activities are often the fruit of in-depth analysis of navigational patterns, conversion funnels and marketing channels.

But it is not always simple to relay the technical work of the web analyst to the business-minded managers who have the influence to turn ideas into reality, recommendations into actions.

Therefore translating metrics into business language should be a top priority for all firms looking to optimize their online activities.

This is best achieved through creating clear and relevant reports which detail important Key Performance and Key Strategic Indicators. Grouping these KPIs under the 4 Ps of the marketing mix can greatly aid organizations to see the connection between data and business reality.

For some examples of The 4 Ps of Marketing and KPIs see the full post at Smart Insights

The message is clear: ensuring that management has a culture of “data based decision making” is crucial in optimizing business outcomes. And aligning KPIs not only allows managers to understand their significance, but also drives the organization towards achieving goals.

At the end of the day, we all know the story: the seductive formula of measurement-analysis-change-improvement that remains a bad joke when we are faced with the reality of the large organization- with its insurmountable hierarchies, processes and departments incapable of coordinating even the most basic of tasks. Success in this case depends on a strong methodology and the development of powerful metrics and analysis strategies.

Avinash will explain what he considers to be the keys to success in overcoming these obstacles, with real examples and best practices from a multitude of countries and some of the most successful companies on the planet. He will also bring a superb collection of pearls of wisdom for even the most discerning analyst.

We keenly await him with some pressing questions.

• We will ask him about the resolution of conflict between available online data and essential marketing metrics.
• We will ask about the new “multipresence” reality (web, mobile, social) of the company on the Internet.
• We will ask him to draw us an ideal scorecard for a hypothetical situation.

Of course, we want you to add your questions
After Avinash, Sergio Maldonado will present metrics directly applicable to common industries, logical ways to group them for optimizing actions and tricks learnt throughout the last 5 years.

We will finish by presenting you with a useful little tool called the Analyst Cheat Sheet 2.0. This survival guide for the analyst, manager or web analyst will aid you in making your data based decisions.

Further details can be found at:

www.wsab.info

The last few months have brought mixed reports of the slowing growth of the Social Networking giant Facebook in numerous nations, as well as the recent ComScore traffic reports that put traffic at record highs for July. The reduced growth, however should not be forgotten so quickly in light of the high July traffic.

Let´s first discuss the slowing of growth in Facebook usage over May and June.

The reported slowing in growth has been especially prominent in developed nations such as the US, the UK and Canada who were early adopters of the network. Furthermore, the number of Facebook users has actually dropped in the US, the UK, Canada and Norway in the last few months. Charles Arthur from The Guardian explains that these drops “giv[e] the first signs that the social network´s popularity may be waning in the west.”

The idea that early adopters are tiring of the network is gaining momentum. A recent Gartner survey showed that 24% of Social Networkers admitting to using their account less than when they first signed up. But: the surprise from this was that where the average was 24%, US and UK user declines in Social Networking were only 20%. So then where are the greater drops in enthusiasm coming from?

Facebook has tended to explain away these decreasing numbers by citing periodical drops in users in different regions, citing saturation in nations with high user rates, and emphasizing their triumphs in continued growth (even if it is at a decreasing rate) as well as the high log-on rate: of 50% of users accessing the network each day.

So whilst growth slows or even becomes negative in the West, Facebook has been able to recuperate users lost in emerging markets, right?

In May 2011 Brazil and Mexico had user growth of over 10% and Indonesia and India also presented strong growth opportunities. Italy and South Korea also continued to increase their usage.

But, recent research undercuts these figures: It seems Social Networking fatigue, as explained by Gartner, is not limited to the early-adopting Western nations.

Of Brazillians surveyed by Gartner, 30-40% say that they are accessing their Social Networks less than when they first

Social Media Fatigue

joined up. Of Brazillians with access to internet, 37% are Facebook users  Therefore, this decrease of enthusiasm of Brazillian´s is not insignificant for Facebook who may find this lack of interest to significantly impact upon their ability to reach their target of one billion users worldwide. Furthermore, Facebook has not nearly reached the saturation point reached by other countries experiencing decline.

Less relevant to Facebook, is the Russian audience (8% of Russian Internet users are Facebookers) who has also reduced their access by 30-40%, and Japan (4% of Japanese Internet users are Facebookers)who cited their decrease as 20%. This is bad news for Facebook who has been relying on increasing their penetration in non-western “saturated” nations.

The bad news for Facebook continued to roll in over the summer with a significantly decreased valuation; shares dropped 6%, a few auctions back, and although an intimidating sum at 80 million dollars in September, it has contracted from its earlier peak of just under 90 million. This may be a short term reaction to the recent public sale of other large Social Media companies, or might be a long term reflection of the decline of the value of these Social Networks.

On another front: Mashable cites a Global Web Index study which compares Facebook usage now compared to 2009 and shows that it is not only unique visits which are declining but also specific activities such as virtual gifting, messaging friends, joining a group, searching for new contacts, installing an app and instant messaging. Furthermore, this is not limited to the US, and the rates of decline are higher among under-30-college-educated users than others. This may greatly worry the developers and advertisers alike as the group which had for so long been the major Facebook audience appears to be losing interest. There was one activity which showed great growth however, this was uploading videos and is supported by recent reports noting that Facebook has now become the third most popular video sharing site in the US, behind Vevo and YouTube. Perhaps it is time Facebook reconsidered their strategy and position in the Social Media Market.

Now let´s take a quick look at the record unique visitor traffic in July for Facebook

These record highs run parallel to Twitter who also saw increased traffic in July and August but contrast to LinkedIn who saw lower levels of growth. One logical thought arises from this information. That Facebook and Twitter which are employed more as tools of leisure were accessed more over the holidays, whilst LinkedIn which is used more as a corporate tool was accessed less. As September dawns and the holiday period ends, it will be interesting to see if Facebook continues with this strong growth or sinks back into its pre-holiday pattern of lower usage rates.

So what does this fatigue mean for the other Social Networks and Social Media? Are they too slowing in growth and beginning to decline in membership? Or is this phenomenon limited to the most entrenched network? What does all of this mean for the newest network, Google+? Will it rise to grab the Facebook leavers or will it fail to take off as the public becomes bored of Social Networking?

I definitely do not believe Facebook can gloss over these months of reduced usage nor can they ignore that many users are simply tiring of the Social Network. What do you think?

As with the new cookies law, Europe is leading the international campaign for improved online privacy in other areas. Two examples are the Spanish government´s fight to prevent Google from indexing personal information of 90 individuals: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/world/europe/10spain.html

The outcome of this battle could have extremely significant consequences for Google and other search engines if it is allowed. Once a precedent is set for the right to choose which personal information is indexed we might see a rush of individuals clambering to protect their personal information as others argue for transparency. This could have even greater ramifications if businesses, organizations and political bodies attempt to utilize this case to impede Google, Bing and Yahoo! giving easy access to their data.

Another interesting example which has popped up at the end of August is the attempt of German Schleswig-Holstein state government officials to shut down Facebook pages as well as remove the Facebook “Like” button in the interests of privacy protection: http://www.allfacebook.com/german-officials-say-nein-to-facebooks-like-button-2011-08

[Image Gmail man- a parody of Gmail´s questionable privacy policies for email account holders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXZOQAbatTE]

Again the ramifications of a positive ruling in the interests of privacy could wreak havoc for Facebook if further bids for the removal of these tools utilized heavily for Social Media marketing occur. If marketers had access to fewer and poorer marketing tools, decreased budgets would be allocated to Facebook and it could face financial losses. On the other hand, removing these features may decrease user satisfaction and lead to lower unique visitors or traffic which in turn decreases marketing budget allocations to Facebook.

A most recent example in the battle of the privacy wars is outlined here by Web Analytics World: http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2011/09/data-protection-and-the-patriot-act.html In the conflict between US and EU privacy policies, it seems that the ultimate losers are the poorly informed citizens. Where contradictory national privacy laws such as in this case, and no doubt in the many more which will arise, which law which trump the other? Who decides this? Although it would be an extremely difficult task, perhaps it is time to begin thinking about creating uniform international internet privacy standards?

Technological developments continue disrupting traditional industries…

Technological developments are bringing the decline of certain sectors; especially noticeable is the decline of traditional print newspapers and magazines. Summer has seen the implementation of new models to capture audiences and maintain revenue as well as the maturing of others. In response to decreasing offline revenue and circulation revenues magazines and newspapers are increasingly searching for online opportunities. Initial attempts include including the metered paywalls of online publications including The Economist, The New York Times and The Financial Times and the general paywall imposed by Slovakia on their top media publications which was implemented in April and has thus far proven a viable model for others to follow. Most recently, digital bundling has been attempted in the Spanish case of Kiosko y Más, which was implemented mid-July as a direct response to the increased proliferation of tablets. Reduced frequency of publication has also been attempted by numerous sources. Only data will provide insight into where these early initiatives have failed and succeeded as they mature, and they will function as case studies for other media.

For further information see op coming Industry Report: The Future of the Press

But of course when an old door closes, a new window often opens…

Technology keeps growing alongside improved measurement capabilities to afford new opportunities to creative and savvy companies. A recent example we found interesting is a TV to be released by Flingo, http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2011/08/19/no-more-jersey-shore-new-tv-tells-advertisers-retailers-and-everybody-else-what-youre-watching/ which will measure your consumption and preferences in order to make suggestions of other programs you might enjoy as well as to provide information about the show you are watching and opportunities to purchase related regalia. Another example of 360 degree Customer Intelligence.

Google purchased Motorola.

Whilst on the one hand Google is battling Facebook for Social Media influence, on the other it is battling Apple with the iPhone vs. Android struggle. This recent purchase, http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/15/breaking-google-buys-motorola-for-12-5-billion/,   along with recent reports over the dominance of Android devices in the smart phone market, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/apple-android-market-share_n_844421.html, may bring great hope to Google and its ´fans.´

Others are not so sure about the purchase: http://www.stateofsearch.com/is-motorola-googles-biggest-gamble-infographic/

Conversely other reports have made comment on the fact that although Google has higher market share, Apple is more successfully bringing in the revenue and the profit… Further bad news for Google in this battle versus Apple comes in the form of computer sales, as Apple´s computer sales increase so does its growth potential in general and the amount of resources they will make available to developing competitive products and services: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/08/18/apple-ships-13-6m-units-earns-21-1-of-mobile-pc-market-on-strong-ipad-sales/.

Android versus Apple

Finally, to twist the knife, in late August Apple surpassed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/apple-overtakes-exxon-mobil-as-most-valuable-company/2011/08/09/gIQACYWq4I_story.html. Whilst at the close of the day Exxon had taken back its place on top, Apple is really emerging as a leading company internationally.

Other depressing and perhaps somewhat surprising reports  have discussed Apple´s enormous revenue in different terms, comparing it to the US Treasury operating cash balance and emerging victorious: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14340470.

The new European Cookies Law

As you probably know, changes to the E-Privacy Directive (E-Privacy Regulations in the UK http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/new_regulations.aspx) were due to be implemented into national law (by EU Member States) by June. As most countries continue to drag their feet about it, it is worth watching the more advanced developments the UK market is going through.

Following the Information Commissioner’s Office guidelines as to how to make websites compliant (and the example displayed on ICO’s own website), John Harrison has written an interesting post: Should you follow ignore or ignore the ICO over new cookie privacy regulations? http://www.mycustomer.com/topic/marketing/should-you-ignore-ico-over-new-cookie-privacy-regulations/127022 . Similar opinions have been heard throughout the market and both the number and weight of these opinions are starting to bring great doubt about whether a strict interpretation of the recent changes is even feasible and will become unenforceable. Quite simply the disconnection between the technical idea and the business reality is too strong.

…to be continued in “August Catch Up- Part 3″