Introduction Web analysis includes the study of users’ behavior on the web Traffic analysis – Usage analysis Behavior at particular website or across the entire web Web server log files, page tagging, cookies, network packet sniffing, route tracing Web usage mining
Cookies Cookies are unique identifiers, usually text files placed on users’ computers by web servers hosting web sites ‘Stateful’ HTTP Used to authenticate users, optimize and personalize the presented information, to serve custom advertisements or just to make browsing more convenient for the user
Log files Web servers record their transactions in log files Information available includes click streams, page views and visits Other useful information - number of unique visitors, least and most visited pages, average length per visit, top referring sites, top search words Log files mined to provide data for analysis
Page tagging “Web bugs” or “web beacons” Information retrieved from log files may not be accurate in the presence of web caches A web bug or web beacon is a small object, usually a transparent graphic image which is embedded in a web page to track the users visiting the web page and identify them Usually used by third‐party servers
Network packet sniffing Similar to a wiretapping device The sniffer is passive device that can capture each packet as data streams flow across the network decode and analyze its content Network management advantages - analyzing network problems, detecting intrusion attempts, debug network protocols and filter suspected content from network traffic Vulnerable to misuse - monitoring network usage, reporting statistics and collecting sensitive information
Uses - Personalization ‘Personalization is the provision to an individual of tailored products, services, information or information relating to products or services’ Information gathered implicitly or explicitly and aggregated Memorization and Customization Applications - customizing access to information sources, filtering news or e‐mails, targeted marketing and advertising, recommendation services for the browsing process
Uses - Advertising Custom advertising based on information gathered Example – DoubleClick A user’s “profile” includes demographic attributes (age, income etc.) and preferences that may be gathered explicitly or implicitly Marketing Web analysis data can be analyzed to determine how visitors to the web site react to marketing offers and improve marketing strategies
Privacy Implications Privacy is the control of personal information Anonymity on the web Privacy Vs. convenience Many websites do not take user’s permission before placing a tracking device, this is the default behavior and functionality is affected if this feature is disabled Example - Toysmart, AOL Third-party cookies, web bugs, route tracing and identity theft
Technological support Secure cookies - encryption of the messages passed through SSL clients to prevent web bugs Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) Anonymizing tools Anonymous proxy (Anonymizer) Lucent Personalized Web Assistant (LPWA) Crowds Anonymous Routing (Onion routers) – provide layers of encryption
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