You have to admit that Google Analytics has become a major force in the world of web based analytics reporting tools. We have been using the service here at Bozell for quite some time as one more arrow in our quiver of tools. It is a great tool in that it is free, robust and integrates in with your pay-per-click advertising programs.
There has been a change over the past few years that not all have properly adapted for. With the explosion of mobile devices with web browsing capabilities, a potential issue has arisen for those using client based web analytics systems like Google Analytics.
It comes down to how these systems work by default. When you use a standard embed code for Google Analytics it creates a link to a JavaScript function file on Google’s servers. When a web page is loaded your web browser calls that file and executes a JavaScript function in order for the action to be logged. The problem is, if the mobile device is incapable of running JavaScript then the users actions will never be logged and no analytics for those visitors will be available.
The solution is to embed the mobile specific version of the Google Analytics embed code. This code variation runs on the server side and therefore doesn’t require the web browser to make a call to Google.
For more information on Google’s Mobile Analytics click the link below.
