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Is Google spying on your website traffic ?

Discussion in 'Google' started by mascot, Dec 13, 2008.

  1. #1
    I have some issues which I would like to discuss:rolleyes:

    a) Is Google tracking "Which website gets most or least click for particular keyword (especially top 10 result page of Google)" ?

    b) Is Google tracking your website traffic through Google toolbar ?:eek:
    If Alexa can track traffic data through Alexa toolbar then why can't Google do the same. :eek:

    c) Is Google using Google analytic statistics to decide whether your site is popular or not with the users.

    I have even compiled an article on Google analytic and whether Google uses bounce rate statistics to deduce whether your site is informative to the visitors or not. http://www.seohawk.com/blog/google-bounce-rate-and-seo-rankings/

    I am particularly doubtful about Google Toolbar since there is no inside information available, but Google can easily use this toolbar to compare your website's traffic with other websites.

    Google can easily pull both popularity data statistics and click statistics from the search engine itself. If search engine is not enough then Google can pull data from Google Toolbar.

    Please share your thoughts.:)
     
    mascot, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  2. skaterkee

    skaterkee Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Google owns the world, they know what you're emailing and conspiring to do through Gmail, they know what you are searching on the search engine, they know everything about your sites through webmaster tools and analytic, they know where you live through maps...
     
    skaterkee, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  3. George2008

    George2008 Greenhorn

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    #3
    I would say, Google tracks any information it can about your web site.
    You sneeze, they will track it if they find out about it :)

    So back to your questions.
    a) They do, but if 1st position is not getting most clicks they act suprise and start Google Dance.
    b) Yes, they do.
    c) Yes they do, And if your site exibits behaviour that people came to you site looking for 'SEO service' and left immediatelly, you will have hard time ranking for that term.
     
    George2008, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  4. mascot

    mascot Active Member

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    #4
    Google is indeed using every single resource on this earth to keep a watch on your website's traffic. This could be a disturbing trend since several visitors have blocked their javascript which could block cookies and other information.

    Google might also be using some sort of temporary session variables which gets activated the moment somebody clicks on your listing within search engine results. Therefore even if you haven't installed Google toolbar, analytic google can still keep a SPY eye on your website's traffic.

    I am grateful to Microsoft that they introduced Windows XP *(although with some bugs), but still it saved me from the SPY EYE of Google. Wonder what would have happen if there was a computer operating system named GOOWIN :(
     
    mascot, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  5. niceilike

    niceilike Active Member

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    #5
    niceilike, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  6. cheapez

    cheapez Active Member

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    #6
    They don't need us to use the google toolbar to keep track of your sites.
    Why not Firefox browser? Firefox is replacing IE and other browsers, look at the browsers statistic.
     
    cheapez, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  7. mascot

    mascot Active Member

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    #7
    Oh My Gosh ! They have Google chrome browser too.

    I wonder whether Google chrome will be used to further keep watch on users i.e

    1) Which websites users visit often
    2) Which sites do not get any clicks
    3) IP addresses of users

    Google can do absolutely anything with Google chrome. The whole world might be going crazy over several SEO issues whereas Google might be using data from these secret sources to decide who will rank on #1 position for a highly competitive keywords.

    However, I still love my firefox :). I am not sure if firefox provides any such information to Google ?? :confused:
     
    mascot, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  8. lakelandprinting

    lakelandprinting Peon

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    #8
    Of course they do. If you have a quality website than you have nothing to worry about. It's those garbage sites out there that have to be careful
     
    lakelandprinting, Dec 13, 2008 IP
    Halobitt likes this.
  9. dojever

    dojever Peon

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    #9
    I have nothing to hide and i don't care ...i was living before google and will live after ..also my blogs and sites!

    if you are doing something wrong ...yes worrry..the more info about you on web the more you are open to google and "others"
     
    dojever, Dec 13, 2008 IP
  10. lycos

    lycos Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Not sure whether they use the toolbar for the tracking purposes but based on what I've read from other web sources as well, they do track on the bounce rate for every search results to determine whether the site is relevant or otherwise.
     
    lycos, Dec 13, 2008 IP
    snowbird likes this.
  11. mascot

    mascot Active Member

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    #11
    There are several users who might have disabled javascripts or cookies. Therefore, I would like to know whether Google toolbar might be using session based variables to keep a track on user activity.

    The activity might be going as follows :-

    a) Check whether user has javascript/cookies enabled or not ?
    b) If both are disabled then create session variables which will get tracked irrespective of your local settings.

    These traffic stats must be compared with the actual rankings, back links, content to decide whether a website should be on position #1 on page 1 or rather it will appear on page 3-4.:eek:
     
    mascot, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  12. winsoar

    winsoar Well-Known Member

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    #12
    One thing they do is measure the time from the SERP page to the domain and then back to SERPS. This measures your bounce rate whether or not you have Analytics installed.

    Yes the Google tool bar does monitor user behaviour too - which is good if you are visiting your own sites!
     
    winsoar, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  13. mascot

    mascot Active Member

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    #13
    If someone was searching for "website development uk" and landed on your site, then how can google keep track of your path if visitor closed the window and then again opened the site in new window ? If your visitors do not have google toolbar installed, then it could be difficult for google to keep track of users once they leave SERP page.

    Is google keeping a track record of your time-in (the moment somebody checked in) and time-out (when user checked out from a particular site) combined with I.P address/time of user searching for a specific keyword ?

    I am sure google is using advance techniques and combines it with the existing algorithm. Search engine optimization is no longer about links, page rank etc etc. :eek:
     
    mascot, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  14. yassercopter

    yassercopter Peon

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    #14
    i think they do need toolbar to know information about you they already have everything with thier search engine
     
    yassercopter, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  15. msk

    msk Well-Known Member

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    #15
    moreover they track how much time visitor spend on Your page, does it press "back" button or close window, etc :) I have use this for improve SE position a long time ago. Works pretty simple - find Your page in google search results - click on and then close window after minute. Repeat this every day several time from different IPs ;)

    BTW firefox also owned by Google, so Google toolbar is not the only one tool to reporting visitors activity on Your pages
     
    msk, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  16. mascot

    mascot Active Member

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    #16
    Do you have Google analytics installed on your website ;)

    I had no idea that Firefox was owned by Google. If firefox is part of Google network then why did they launch Google chrome ?? :(
     
    mascot, Dec 14, 2008 IP
  17. winsoar

    winsoar Well-Known Member

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    #17
    Probably because it gives people more chance of choosing a Google product.
     
    winsoar, Dec 15, 2008 IP
  18. atkins17

    atkins17 Banned

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    #18
    Actually they do it's on which server you hosted, on this server.
     
    atkins17, Dec 16, 2008 IP
  19. flatroxs

    flatroxs Banned

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    #19
    quality content and informative website with high pr backlinks have a good advantage, so not to worry for those sites
     
    flatroxs, Dec 16, 2008 IP
  20. michealscorez

    michealscorez Peon

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    #20
    ofcourse.. since they are the dominator of the internet market .. they will surely track your website for all kind of activities..
     
    michealscorez, Dec 16, 2008 IP