GOOGLE MOBILE ANALYTICS INTEGRATION JANUARY 2013 (App version 3.0.8 onwards)
What is Google Mobile Analytics? Google Mobile Analytics is a service to show how users interact with their websites and mobile applications. The service is free and takes a few minutes for basic integration. Data is sent from your magazine app and stored on Google s servers and is accessed through an interactive web browser interface. Google Mobile Analytics is extremely flexible and configurable, allowing you to build reports to view only what is important to you and your organization. Why Google Mobile Analytics? Mobile App Analytics captures mobile app-specific usage data and integrates it with your Google Analytics account. The suite of reports provides the tools and metrics you need to analyze and evaluate your app performance, including: Number of installations Devices and networks used to access app Geographic location and languages spoken by users In-app purchase totals Customized tracking of special content, like video Number of screens seen per visit, and the order in which visitors move through these screens PixelMags adds value to the standard event tracking by integrating additional events, shown later in the section What events can I expect to be measured? What can I expect from PixelMags Google Mobile Analytics integration? By adopting PixelMags Google Mobile Analytics integration, you can create reports of your most important app metrics all in one place via your web browser interface. From here you can stay on top of key trends with alerts so you always know what's going on in your app. Pageviews from Standard magazine versions Using Googles built in Pageviews PixelMags generates a url in the format /Issue_Name/Page_Number/ which allows you to see where page views have occurred on an issue and page level. An example of this would be /December_2012/Page_243
Pageviews from Cards Format (enhanced) magazine versions Cards format works in a different way in that page areas are accessed vertically as well has horizontally, as shown in the diagram below. A swipe to the right (from any Part number) takes you to the next Page stack Part_1 A swipe to the left (from any Part number) takes you to the previous Page stack Part_1 A downward swipe takes you to the next Part number in the stack /Page_1/Part_1 => /Page_2/Part_1 => /Page_3/Part_1 => /Page_4/Part_1 => /Page_5/Part_1 => v v v /Page_2/Part_2 /Page_3/Part_2 /Page_5/Part_2 v /Page_2/Part_3 v /Page_2/Part_4 v /Page_5/Part_3 v /Page_5/Part_4 v /Page_5/Part_5 v /Page_5/Part_6 Using Googles built in Pageviews, PixelMags generates a url in the format /Issue_Name/Page_Number/ Part_Number which allows you to see where page views have occurred on an issue, page and part level. An example of this would be /December_2012/Page_243/Part_6 How does it compare with Flurry Analytics? Flurry Analytics is optimised for monitoring mobile application usage and the data PixelMags sends to Flurry takes advantage of this. Google Analytics focuses on content consumption. There will always be an overlap between the two services but PixelMags probably delivers more detailed content reading data to Google Analytics. How does Google Mobile Analytics work with my PixelMags app? By creating a unique application ID which is then built into your PixelMags magazine app, you can get magazine app, device and OS information as well as app behavior and content reading. The apps are monitored by a standard set of events included by Google that PixelMags measure and report on. PixelMags have also integrated additional advanced events (shown later in this document) to get more specific detailed information. What platforms are supported? Google Mobile Analytics with PixelMags is available now for ios. Android support will be available in a future version of our android app.
How do I start getting measurements of my app with Google Mobile Analytics? There are two stages in this process, setting up with Google and then with PixelMags. Stage 1 - Setting up with Google To get started with Google, you will need to register and set up an account Login to http://www.google.co.uk/analytics To create a new account click on [ + Account ] and click on [ App ]
The Tracking ID for the app you have just created is now displayed. Once you have the Tracking ID, move on to Stage 2. You must set up one Tracking ID for each app that you wish to report on. In this way, the analytics sent to Google will be unique to the app. It is possible to use the same tracking ID for multiple apps but interpreting the data in Google would be difficult. Stage 2 - Setting up with PixelMags Once the Google app is created and it has been assigned with a unique application key, this must be entered into PixelMags CDS tools to enable us to incorporate it into the next PixelMags app build. The procedure is as follows: Generate a spreadsheet or text file containing the name of the magazine app and the Google tracking ID number Email it to technical-services@pixelmags.com PixelMags will email you back to inform you that your information has been entered Example of the format of the spreadsheet to send to PixelMags; App Name Tracking ID Sailing for Beginners UA-36957182-1 The Tracking ID key will be incorporated into the next app update which may not be imminent. So look out for emails from platform vendors such as Apple itunes, Google, Amazon Kindle etc regarding app updates and your analytics will begin appearing soon after the app has been released to the public.
What Events can I expect to be measured? Google Mobile Analytics have a standard set of measurements that are captured and these cover the complete lifecycle of the app, from initial download, activation, reading until closure. However, PixelMags have integrated the following advanced custom events that are currently available; Events: Screen views Page View events Download events Search lookup events Bookmark Creation Bookmark Page Selection Table of Contents Page Selected Issue Download Push Notification Received A standardised format across all events and data parameters to use an identifier or number and as an additional option a title or short description of the parameter will be used. The decision to use the combination of identifiers and short descriptions is on a per magazine basis. As an example of the data format where data defining which issue the statistic is for will be "issue_'identifier'-'title'" or just the "issue_identifier", you can see examples of each type of data in the examples for screen views and events below. Screen Views Screen views will be updated to contain information on the issue, rendition, page and parts of pages for cards format issues. For a cards issue: /issue_33405-cards_demo_issue/rendition_27-ipad/page_004-self_(re)made_man/part_003/portrait or /issue_33405/rendition_27/page_004/part_003/portrait Cards rendition sizes: ipad ipad Retina iphone 3.5 inch IPhone 3.5 inch low res iphone 4 inch Replica format issues do not have multiple renditions or parts or different content for different orientations so the information included is just on the issue and page. For a replica issue: /issue_33405-replica_demo_issue/page_004-self_(re)made_man/ or /issue_33405/page_004/ Page View Events (when a user views a screen of data) Page view events would be updated to use the new formatting for data and to add information that has been added to the app for the cards format. Action: issue / rendition issue_3340527-cards Demo Issue/rendition_27-iPad or issue_3340527/rendition-27
Label: page / part / orientation page_004-self_(re)made_man/part_003/portrait or page_004/part_003/portrait Download Events The change to download events is to remove the issue title from the label and add the state type of download event being recorded. Action: issue / rendition issue_33405-cards_demo_issue/rendition_27-ipad or issue_33405/rendition_27 Label: download state started or completed Search Lookup Events Category: search_lookup Action: the search term Bookmarks (when a user creates a bookmark) Whenever a bookmark is added by a user an event is recorded and the event category for this is bookmark_added. The events bookmark_added both uses these values: Event Action - the unique PixelMags identifier for the related issue. Event Label - the page index of the related page within the issue. Bookmarks (when a user selects a bookmark) Whenever a bookmark is selected by a user viewing the page the bookmark was in, an event is recorded and the event category for this is bookmark_selected. The events bookmark_selected both uses these values: Event Action - the unique PixelMags identifier for the related issue. Event Label - the page index of the related page within the issue. Table of Contents (when a user navigates to a page from the table of contents) Whenever a table of contents entry is selected by the user, viewing the page for the entry, an event is recorded with the category table_contents_selected. The events table_contents_selected uses the same values for: Event Action - the unique pixelmags identifier for the related issue. Event Label - the page index of the related page within the issue. Issue Download (when a user successfully downloads an issue) On completing the download of an issue an event will be recorded using the three attributes Two event attributes are recorded with each download: Event Category - is always issue_download. Event Action - is the unique pixelmags identifier of the issue that was downloaded. Push Notification Push notifications are recorded if the app is open or if the app is launched in response to a notification with; Event Category - is always push_notification. Event Action - is the type of notification, this can be an alert or a newsstand (background download). Event Label - is either the alert message or the unique pixelmags identifier for the issue in a newsstand push notification.
Frequently Asked Questions When will I be able to view my measurements? Please be aware that the unique applications IDs will only be integrated into the PixelMags app at the next build update which may not be imminent. Watch for emails from vendors relating to app updates. I was notified of the app being updated but why are my apps usage not showing on Google? Google often takes between 12-48 hours to start displaying the incoming data. Why does PixelMags have to submit an update to my app to Apple, Google, Amazon Kindle etc? Google Analytics integration is fully integrated into your app and must be activated by the platform vendor after we build it. What if the user uses the device offline? The data is stored up on the device and when it is next connected to the internet, it will be sent to Google. What happens with my data during Google server maintenance? Google continues to collect data even during maintenance periods, so no data will be lost. Do I need to tell PixelMags my Google account details? Not, this not required, just ensure that you have emailed the unique application keys to PixelMags. Why do you not use issue titles in Google Analytics? This is so that publisher can change the name of the issue after publication and analytics data will still be received. Why do PixelMags not use Page Labels? The issue may contain page labels such as Cover for Page_1, but these can change midway through the issue, for example if there is a supplement, so PixelMags uses the physical page number of the issue. For more in-depth information about Google Analytics, visit their website http://www.google.com/analytics
APPENDIX 1 - GLOSSARY OF GOOGLE MOBILE ANALYTICS CATEGORIES Google events are categorized into these sections; App Overview Real-Time Real-Time allows you to monitor activity and each pageview is reported seconds after it occurs. Note that on a mobile device, app hits are batched to conserve battery life so you may notice delays. Acquisitions How your app is acquiring users including total number of new users, overview of first launches including operating systems, app version and country of origin, active users detail, new users and returning users. Active users includes both new and returning users that have opened the app at least once New Users Users How users interact with the app, the average session duration, screen views, screens viewed per session, top languages, top locations of users, OS versions and top network operators. Overview App Versions Demographics Location Language Devices and Network Overview Devices Network Engagement Many of the Engagement reports require additional set up in the app tracking code that should be completed. Data does not appear in some of these reports until you complete the required additional set up. Overview Screens Engagement Flow Crashes and Exceptions App Speed Behaviour New vs Returning Users Loyalty Regency Session Duration Events Overview Top Events Screens Outcomes Use the Ecommerce tracking feature to track shopping cart transactions and in-app purchases. PixelMags analytics integration does not support this function. Goals Overview Goal Screens Ecommerce Overview Product Performance Sales Performance Transactions Time to Purchase
APPENDIX 2 - SAMPLE SCREENS SAMPLE GOOGLE ANALYTICS SCREENS Generic overview of the app showing acquisitions and users, top devices, country of origin, user engagement and page view summary. Display the devices used and the networks they connected through
SAMPLE GOOGLE ANALYTICS SCREENS Display the top events accessed Display the app versions being accessed
SAMPLE GOOGLE ANALYTICS SCREENS List the top events