davidkamerer.com

Tag: Google

  • How to pass the new Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam

    How to pass the new Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam

    In the world of digital marketing, so-called “experts” are a dime a dozen. One way to distinguish yourself is to become a real expert. Since measurement is so important, I recommend you start with digital analytics. And Google is the king of analytics for most websites. According to one estimate, almost 70 percent of the top 10,000 websites use Google Analytics.

    Fortunately, Google has created materials and an exam to support your quest. The exam used to cost $50 to take, which kept many of my students from attempting it. Today it’s free. While the old exam was timed, you could mark questions and return to them. The new exam is linear; you start at question one and take them in order. You must answer 70 questions in 90 minutes. You need to get 80 percent correct or more to earn the certification. If you fail, you can retake the exam after one week.

    Here’s how to pass the new Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam:

    Step 1. You’ll need working knowledge of Google Analytics

    You should already be familiar with and using Google Analytics. It helps if you can get access to a variety of accounts. You’ll definitely want access to an ecommerce account. If you can’t get access to one, you can gain access to the Google demo account. This is for the Google merchandise store, where you can purchase Google logo merchandise such as water bottles, T-shirts and backpacks.

    It’s also essential that you have full access to an account at the administrator level. This kind of account is the only way you can perform some advanced activities, such as writing filters.

    Step 2. Study at the Google Analytics Academy

    Google has created learning activities to help you learn how to use their tools. Most lessons are video- and activity-based. There are five courses available:

    I suggest watching these over time, taking in a couple of videos in each session. As you watch them, apply the lessons on your GA accounts, and take notes in a text file. I suggest one long text file, so when you’re taking the exam you can CTL-F the relevant keywords easily. Take the practice assessment at the end of each class; these questions are close to what you’ll see on the GAIQ. You should also look at the Google Analytics IQ Study Guide, a text-based resource.

    You may think of Google Analytics in a narrow, limited way. The exam uses Google Analytics as the center of measuring sophisticated marketing campaigns. So expect questions about AdWords, Tag Manager, display advertising and mobile app tracking. These are all covered in the five courses.

    Step 3. Take the exam

    Since it’s free to take, you might as well take it cold and see how you do. Sign up at Google Partners where you’ll create an account. You might pass on the first try. If you don’t, use this experience to improve your performance.

    I breezed through it and came within one question of passing. While I was initially disappointed, I had it coming. I only spent 25 of the 90 minutes allotted. Had I carefully checked just one or two answers, I would have passed. My takeaway is that 90 minutes is actually a lot of time, and you shouldn’t stress if you have to look something up. Just look it up. It will improve your score.

    The hardest questions have multiple responses. Miss one and the question is wrong. It’s also essential to re-read questions to make sure you answer with precision.

    Unfortunately, you don’t get feedback on which questions you missed. You just get the number correct and the final percentage.

    Step 4. Repeat

    When you’re ready to re-take the exam, create an interruption-free place. Get a glass of water and turn off all your other devices. Choose a time of day when you’re sharp. The exam offers a time remaining meter on the bottom of your screen. Be thoughtful and deliberate. I was able to instantly answer about 25 percent of the questions. The rest, I checked my notes and the extensive support offered by Google. I copied the phrase “Google Analytics” to the clipboard to facilitate faster searches. I also favored Google-owned pages when checking details, because they use language consistent with the exam. At the time of the exam, I had the following windows open on my computer:

    • The exam
    • My text document of notes from the study sessions
    • An active Google Analytics account
    • Various SERPs from checking answers (close these as you use them)

    Searching efficiently alone won’t get you to the goal line. There are a fair number of interpretation-based questions. Either you know this process or you don’t.

    If you pass, you’ll earn the GAIQ Certificate, which is good for 18 months. On my second try I earned 88 percent; it took me 80 minutes.

    Regardless of how you perform on the exam, the act of preparing and taking it will help you become a better analyst. That’s the real reward of going through this process.

    Here are some other posts on taking and passing the GAIQ:

    https://www.viget.com/articles/how-to-pass-the-google-analytics-iq-test-in-two-days-zero-to-hero

    http://www.fivefifty.com/google-analytics-exam/

    Good luck, and let me know what worked for you in the comments, below.

  • Google Dashboard and online privacy

    The Russian comic Yakov Smirnoff famously said, “In Soviet
    Russia, TV watches you.” Today, he might say, “on Internet, Google watches
    you.”

    Indeed, Google is like Santa Claus: it sees you when you’re
    sleeping. It knows when you’re awake. It knows if you’ve been bad or good, so
    be good for goodness’ sake.

    But you don’t have to be bad in order to want to protect
    your privacy. Plenty of good people mistrust Google. An entire culture has grown up around being skeptical of Google’s
    informal motto, “Don’t be evil.” To catch a glimpse of that culture, check out
    the paranoia – and hilarious cartoons – at Google Watch.

    This context is helpful in understanding Google’s latest
    privacy product, Google Dashboard.

    Here’s what Google says about it:

    In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and
    control over their own data, we’ve built the Google Dashboard. Designed to be
    simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use
    (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your
    personal settings.

     

    The Dashboard covers more than 20 Google products, including
    Reader, Gmail, web history, YouTube and Blogger. Over time, Google will add
    other products, such as Analytics, that are not yet included.

    But a close look shows no new features, no new control for
    the end user. Dashboard just puts all of Google’s existing privacy settings in
    one place. A convenience, yes, but not a breakthrough.

    What could Google have done? Plenty, according to critics:

    According to John Simpson at Consumer Watchdog:

    If Google really wanted to give users control over their
    privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company
    and its advertisers in crucial areas such as search data and online behavior,”
    said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “The Dashboard
    gives the appearance of control without the actual ability to prevent Google
    from tracking you and delivering you to its marketers.


    “What the Dashboard does is list all the information linked
    directly to your name, but what it doesn’t do is let you know and control the
    data directly tied to your computer’s IP address, which is Google’s black box
    and data mine,” said Simpson “Google isn’t truly protecting privacy until it
    lets you control that information.”

     

    And here’s David Sarno, information technology reporter at the LA
    Times    :

    … and though much of the concern about Google’s data storage
    revolves around precisely how and what the company does to analyze and profit
    from user information, the Dashboard offers little insight into those domains.
    It does not specify which services keep user data, or for how
    long. Neither does it alert users that, for instance, their Web search
    histories and e-mails are constantly scanned for the purposes of selling
    products to them and others.

     

    While you’re waiting for a more open approach to privacy,
    there are some easy things you can do:

    • Don’t rely exclusively on Google products. Today, you often
      have a choice; you can use WordPress instead of Blogger, for example. A healthy
      diet includes a variety of foods; use this pluralistic approach when choosing
      internet services;
    • Log out of your Google account when you’re not using Google
      services;
    • Reset your browser occasionally; this wipes cookies and
      browsing history. Or use “private browsing” settings.

    You can further manage your privacy, but it will require
    some effort. Here are two articles that provide specific tips.

    6 ways to protect your privacy on Google, by Robert L. Mitchell, Computerworld

    Online Privacy: How to Hide Your Google Search Trails: Eight steps for keeping your search-engine data private, by Amit Agarwal

    Or, you could just move to a “remote mountaintop village,”
    as suggested in this Onion satire:


    Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

  • United’s nightmare not over by a longshot

    On July 17, 2009, Dave Carroll’s video was the number three search result for “United Airlines.”unitedbreaks.gif

  • In search of ethos online

    aristotle.jpgAristotle, the father of rhetoric, taught us about the three great appeals: logos, the logical appeal; pathos, the emotional appeal; and ethos, the appeal of reputation.

    Who you are matters. And as we go through life, we create meaningful relationships with people, in large part based upon ethos.
    But all that falls apart online. And as social media evolve, we need to fix this, or the communities will fall apart.
    Arthur Frommer wrote last week of widespread shill reviews on travel sites, including popular sites like tripadvisor.com. Frommer reports that one travel site, beatofhawaii.com, says up to half of tripadvisor’s reviews appear to be placed by PR firms, restaurants and hotels – all on their own behalf. He further reports that Royal Caribbean Cruise lines has engaged in a “pay for play” scheme to “wine and dine” frequent cruisers, in return for positive reviews on social media sites (note: do this search to see the blowback from consumer advocates about this program).
    Locally, at kansas.com, the portal for the Wichita Eagle, the comments on stories are filled with hateful, cloaked comments, cheapening the site.
    So, what can we do about this?
    • Require registration. Anonymous comments have no value. Only cowards hide behind anonymity.
    • Registration is a start, but websites and news services should require people to use their real names. A newspaper wouldn’t publish an anonymous or cloaked comment, so why should a website?
    • People who carry out discourse publicly should want to tell us who they are. If you’re a company or blogger, you can provide a link to your site. If you’re not, consider a suggestion by David Meeman Scott, author of World Wide Rave: create a Google Profile (here’s mine). A Google profile is free, easy to create, and provides basic contextual information about who you are. 
    You might use a LinkedIn or Facebook identity, but as Scott points out, you need to be a member of that network to see your page. Anyone can see your Google Profile.
    Professionals should know better than to post phony reviews. As a member of the Public Relations Society of America, I am bound by the PRSA Code of Ethics, which includes the following:
    • Avoid deceptive practices
    • Reveal the sponsors for causes and interests represented
    • Be honest and accurate in all communications
    It’s not rocket science. Any professional should know that it’s wrong to lie or fail to disclose an interest. And still, people do it all the time. And drilling down to the level of comments left on an online newspaper, there’s no pretense of professionalism. It’s a literal free-for-all.

    In the end, people will tire of this tainted marketplace of ideas. Maybe that’s what it will take to get people to pay for content online. Online communities that are honest, ethical and policed for trolls. Like a country club, you charge a fee to weed out the undesirables. And then say good bye to the public swimming pool. 

    In my daily life, I’m very selective about who I’ll call a “friend.” Online, I would also rather hang out with friends than people who won’t even tell me their real names. 

    Let’s raise our standards online, treasure our friends, and say goodbye to the trolls.