Advanced Analytics and Search
September 3, 2010
In a recent meeting, a vice president with some basic technology knowledge asked, “How do I know anything unless I have some metrics?”
Good question. Quite a few folks find that getting reports about Web traffic provide the definitive method of figuring out what’s what on the Internet. Of course, when one digs into Web traffic there remains some mushiness, but, hey, for those who can use a mobile phone and an ATM, any metrics are better than no metrics.
No surprise, then, that advanced analytics is the talk of the analytics community on the Internet, and the companies are curious and excited about it. It utilizes sophisticated techniques to understand patterns and predict outcomes. The recent IT-analysis.com blog post “Five Requirements for Advanced Analytics” announces the need to develop skills for advanced analytics, being different from the business analytics in use presently.
This article feeds the analytics frenzy: “[Analytics] includes complex techniques such as statistical modeling, machine learning, linear programming, mathematics, and even natural language processing (on the unstructured side)”.
The five essential skills for the business users mentioned are; understanding the data in its entirety, appreciating data quality issues, knowing the questions to ask, getting proper training on the tools use, and thoroughly knowing the output analysis so you can defend it. Search is now more just a list of results, and we wonder if the search wizards can deliver useful information without understanding how a script can tally some clicks, and clever souls find ways to spoof the Google.
Enter search engine optimization: The Analytics Gang, Wanted Dead or Alive, Social or Outcast. Reward.
Leena Singh, September 3, 2010
Freebie
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