Being able to know what visitors to site are doing, and how they behave are really quite important statistics for major companies. Especially if they are able to make changes on the fly and boost conversion rates based on the (near) real-time information that’s available.
In fact, most companies pay big bucks for that. Being able to get this real-time data is one reason why free systems like Google can’t compete. But what if those systems you pay big bucks for suddenly stop spitting out real-time data? What if it takes a couple days (or longer) for that data to appear? That would make daily optimization nearly impossible.
Well, this is what is happening to those customers of Omniture at present. And as a user of Omniture for a client of mine, I can attest to the fact that data sometimes disappears, or doesn’t exist for several days, and then suddenly does as though it was there all along and you just didn’t look hard enough.
It makes testing campaigns very difficult, especially when you’re trying to give the go-ahead for an ad to go live.
An article in Forbes last week shows that my client isn’t the only one facing this challenge. Which is good and bad news. It’s good news because we’ve usually been made to feel like we are the only ones with these issues. The bad news? Poor Omniture; they are really heading up the creek without a paddle.
In a time where Google is heavily ramping up their free systems, and companies are looking to tighten their belts, Omniture can’t afford to be losing or misplacing data – even for short periods of time. It doesn’t give them much of a leg to stand on when clients ask why they have to pay so much for their services.
I also feel like it raises a few more questions including:
1. Are we expecting too much from data systems?
2. Makes me wonder about those who pay for tracking systems – especially huge sums of money. These troubles kind of make free look good… Don’t they?
Rebecca Atkinson (Muller) is a freelance web marketing/analytics consultant with more than seven years of direct experience helping businesses create and implement online marketing and communications strategies. Her clients come from all industries including finance, technology and not-for-profit. She specializes in helping her clients determine how to improve their advertising programs, focusing on visitor behaviour – beyond the inital click-through. Full bio available
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for your post. As a member of the Omniture ClientCare team, I wanted to let you know that we take this very seriously, knowing how frustrating it is for the customers affected. We are working around the clock to get it fully resolved.
I also wanted to clarify that although some customers are experiencing a data processing delay due to a software upgrade on January 8, Omniture has never experienced a data collection outage, meaning, specifically, we have never lost data.
As our CEO, Josh James, said in response to this situation, we are committed to returning to the high standard of reliability our customers have come to expect from Omniture, and improving our quality assurance and service delivery. For more information, please see the letter he sent to customers.
It sounds like you are still having some issues in working with one of our customers and so I will personally reach out to you to see if I can help. If any of your readers need help, please contact me on Twitter or call Omniture ClientCare.
Ben Gaines
Omniture ClientCare
Twitter: @OmnitureCare
Hi Ben,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post. It’s really quote refreshing to see a someone from the company respond so quickly.
I can appreciate the fact that Omniuture is looking into things, but I have to say many people have been experiencing latency issues (among other things) for longer than the Jan. 8th release.
I’ve used Omniture in the past for other clients and never had such issues as we have now. It’s really a shame to be honest as deep down the Omniture toolsets offered are really quite good.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I personally think Omniture needs to be more transparent, open and honest among other things about what’s going on otherwise you’re going to lose a lot of customers. Rather than offering more, I think it’s time to make sure what is currently offered can be done well and bug-free. Qaulity over quantity, especially for the price your customers pay for these toolsets.