Web Statistics Software

First, an online company decides exactly what data it wants to collect about its users' behavior and how this information is to be collected. That's when the actual software that will do the collecting comes in. Designing this software to be accurate and effective is a burgeoning market within the computer industry.

A major divide for how data is processed is whether the software doing the analysis is in-house or done by a third party. In-house software, run by the hosting web server itself, is typically a one-off purchase and thus relatively cheap, or in some cases free for simple applications. Websites employing third-party analysis usually pay a monthly service fee, as opposed to a one-off software buy.

Most in-house methods still rely on logfile analysis, so they are comparatively limited in what data they can collect. These software programs are known as web log analyzers. Analog and AWStats are popular open-source web log analyzers. The lower cost and simpler data collection make in-house methods more popular among smaller websites and businesses.

Third-party software analysis, in contrast, can be very expensive, but also very informative. For major companies, the wealth of information that can be analyzed and delivered to them about their visitors (everything from time spent at each page on the website to the user's country of origin) make the fees well worth it. By necessity, third-party software analysis requires the controversial use of cookies to send the required information. Using the cookies, the software can keep tracking an internet user's behavior after they have left a specific website, for instance to see if he or she makes a purchase after clicking on an advertisement. This is valuable promotional information for any website selling advertising space.