Rob Howard wrote about Google and the same issue I mentioned on my post about
Google Analytics.
I have to agree, Microsoft would never be allowed to do this, everybody
would be screaming about it. They had been pushed away from collecting
user and usage information each time they have tryed. Even if they
state the data is anonymous they have everyone complaining.
But Google is in fact not collecting anonymous data, it's collecting your data,
usage data of thousands of sites that will make them even better at
what they do. Study online user behavior.
They are the primary door to
most part of Internet traffic, now they are also inside the houses.
I don't agree with the comments from Dan Bartels or Rob's post. I believe privacy is
important even if you don't have something to hide. I like Google, I
even have a mousepad from them, but I share with
Dennis van der Stelt that there should be some
Google Analytics competition from other search engines.
May be Microsoft decides to enter the web analytics market with help of
the reporting tools they already have in place on the SQL product line.
They've already started to create some Google-like web applications as
www.live.com and www.start.com. But they have to be cautious, they
can't act with the same freedom as Google does today. Only time will
tell.