Media companies rely on Google Analytics

 Google is also ahead in Switzerland when it comes to user tracking: out of 168 websites surveyed, 70 use the free Google Analytics service. The major media companies also use this tool. This is the result of a study by the search engine marketing agency Angelink Yourposition. It included all websites included in the Net-Metrix panel in December. According to the study, all media companies participating in this panel use Google Analytics. At Edipresse, however, the tool is only used sporadically alongside the competitor product Xiti, while Tamedia uses the Google product without exception, according to the study, and at Axel Springer only the Beobachter does without it. Ringier and SRG use a combination of different products. Despite the publishers' protests against the aggregation of content on Google News, the publishers are apparently unable to resist Google's free offer, Angelink Yourposition concludes. Even if the media companies provide the internet giant with detailed information about their visitors. Overall, the tool is used by almost exactly half of all media sites in the Net-Metrix panel. The panel includes Tamedia with 14 sites, Ringier with seven, Axel Springer with four, SRG with 13 and Edipresse with six.
However, Angelink Yourposition's investigation only covered the tools used on the user side. What is in operation on the server side cannot be seen from the outside. The study analyzed a total of 168 websites. 87 websites use a tracking tool on the client side, in seven cases several tools are used at the same time. 81 websites do not use such a tool and rely on the Net-Metrix figures or a server-side service. In addition to the 70 websites using Google Analytics, other products are at the bottom of the rankings.