Analytics Evolution and Growth of the Industry

John Lovett over at Analytics Evolution talks about the growth of our analytics industry. It’s worth a read.

It’s one of the most succinct postings I’ve seen on all our ills.

The inflated expectations, the skill gaps, the talent gaps…it’s great stuff – and that’s not just because we happen to agree on so much.

There’s a market maturity issue with Google Analytics. GA is great at telling people ‘what’ is going on. In effect, that’s what 90% of web analyst did between 1995 and 2007 – fight with in an effort to determine ‘what’ is going on. The journey ended at the dashboard.

Since most people assume that since they have Google Analytics on their blog, and they can tell ‘what’ is going on – and with the help of Avinash – who tells them how interpret specific GA terms, like ‘bounce rate’, they can conclude that really, analytics is truly easy.

‘Why’ is seldom asked.

The current suite of analytics tools are unable and/or unwilling to answer those questions even if that question is asked.

We have deductive methods of testing hypotheses of ‘why’ something is happening, but it is extremely seldom that organizations are set up to answer that on a periodic basis.

Setting up those routines – that culture of analytics – is but one component of the bigger picture.

John is right in the end though: it’s time for talented practitioners to shine.