I’m going to “cheat” and say that, since this may show some things that may be of some use to others, I won’t consider it a personal post, even though it’s basically another statistics post, and I’ll also use it to mention that Matomo Analytics didn’t report any visits on June 29, though both versions of Google Analytics did. Either way, since I installed Matomo Analytics on June 20, Universal Analytics is scheduled to stop processing data today, and I had also set up Google Analytics 4 some time ago, despite not making any use of it otherwise, I have ten days, between June 21 and June 30, when Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 and Matomo Analytics were active here, so I can post a comparison of some of the information displayed by each, following the format that I use for the statistics posts. Of course, the extremely low number of visits makes the whole thing of very little use, but there you have it…
| Field |
Universal Analytics |
Google Analytics 4 |
Matomo Analytics |
| Visitors |
55 |
26 |
35 |
| Visits |
56 |
27 |
36 |
| Pageviews |
61 |
32 |
41 |
| Countries |
1. United States: 30
2. China: 20
3. Germany: 2
4. India: 1
4. Israel: 1
4. Romania: 1
4. Russia: 1 |
1. China: 12
2. United States: 10
3. Germany: 1
3. India: 1
3. Israel: 1
3. Romania: 1
3. Russia: 1 |
1. United States: 28
2. Canada: 2
3. China: 1
3. India: 1
3. Israel: 1
3. Poland: 1
3. Romania: 1
3. Russia: 1 |
| Sources |
1. Direct visits: 51
2. Bing: 2
2. Google: 2
4. Sogou: 1 |
1. Direct visits: 21
2. Bing: 2
2. Google: 2
4. Sogou: 1
Plus one obvious spam source. |
1. Direct visits: 30
2. Bing: 2
2. Google: 2
4. Sogou: 1
4. Yandex: 1 |
| Landing pages |
1. Site index: 18
2. Blog first page: 14
3. Games Played front page: 2
3. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
3. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
6. A Second Year of Statistics After Starting Over: 1
6. Carrying, Worrying, Running and a New Longest Review: 1
6. Colectiv and Certej – October 30 to November 12 in Bucharest: 1
6. Getting Rather Cold for Running…: 1
6. Goodbye, Kepler. This Time for Good…: 1
6. January, 2019 archive first page: 1
6. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 1
6. Music category first page: 1
6. New Finds – XIII: 1
6. Not Planting Trees, Running or Watching Formula 1 Live, Plus a Wasted Trip: 1
6. Quick Personal Update Between Euro 2016 Matches and Reading: 1
6. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
6. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
6. Recycling Center, Arcabit, Kingmaker and Yesterday: 1
6. Shallowness: 1
6. Tenth Personal Post in a Row, But Finished the Disciples Campaigns: 1
6. Was Rushing This Due to (Also) Starting Disciples, But It Stopped Working: 1
6. When Should Life Be Extended?: 1 |
1. Blog first page: 12
2. Site index: 9
3. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
3. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
5. Bands List front page: 1
6. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 1
6. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
6. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
[1] |
1. Site index: 10
2. Blog first page: 2
2. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
2. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
5. A Second Year of Statistics After Starting Over: 1
5. Carrying, Worrying, Running and a New Longest Review: 1
5. Colectiv and Certej – October 30 to November 12 in Bucharest: 1
5. Getting Rather Cold for Running…: 1
5. Goodbye, Kepler. This Time for Good…: 1
5. January, 2019 archive first page: 1
5. Just About the First Run After Bucharest Half Marathon 2023…: 1
5. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 1
5. Music category first page: 1
5. New Finds – XIII: 1
5. Not Planting Trees, Running or Watching Formula 1 Live, Plus a Wasted Trip: 1
5. Now I Know What Having Your Bowels Turn to Water Means…: 1
5. Quick Personal Update Between Euro 2016 Matches and Reading: 1
5. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
5. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
5. Recycling Center, Arcabit, Kingmaker and Yesterday: 1
5. Shallowness: 1
5. Tenth Personal Post in a Row, But Finished the Disciples Campaigns: 1
5. Was Rushing This Due to (Also) Starting Disciples, But It Stopped Working: 1
5. When Should Life Be Extended?: 1 |
| Viewed pages |
1. Site index: 18
2. Blog first page: 16
3. Games Played front page: 2
3. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 2
3. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
3. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
7. A Second Year of Statistics After Starting Over: 1
7. Bands List front page: 1
7. Carrying, Worrying, Running and a New Longest Review: 1
7. Colectiv and Certej – October 30 to November 12 in Bucharest: 1
7. Getting Rather Cold for Running…: 1
7. Goodbye, Kepler. This Time for Good…: 1
7. January, 2019 archive first page: 1
7. Music category first page: 1
7. New Finds – XIII: 1
7. Not Planting Trees, Running or Watching Formula 1 Live, Plus a Wasted Trip: 1
7. Quick Personal Update Between Euro 2016 Matches and Reading: 1
7. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
7. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
7. Recycling Center, Arcabit, Kingmaker and Yesterday: 1
7. Shallowness: 1
7. Tenth Personal Post in a Row, But Finished the Disciples Campaigns: 1
7. The Last Two Runs from May and the First One from June: 1
7. Was Rushing This Due to (Also) Starting Disciples, But It Stopped Working: 1
7. When Should Life Be Extended?: 1 |
1. Blog first page: 13
2. Site index: 9
3. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 2
3. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
3. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
6. Bands List front page: 1
6. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
6. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
6. The Last Two Runs from May and the First One from June: 1 |
1. Site index: 10
2. Blog first page: 4
3. Last Statistics Using Google Analytics: 2
3. Medical Students, Shepherds and Tensions – December 14 to 20 in Bucharest: 2
3. MilkyWay@home Separation Is Shutting Down: 2
6. A Second Year of Statistics After Starting Over: 1
6. Bands List front page: 1
6. Carrying, Worrying, Running and a New Longest Review: 1
6. Colectiv and Certej – October 30 to November 12 in Bucharest: 1
6. Getting Rather Cold for Running…: 1
6. Goodbye, Kepler. This Time for Good…: 1
6. January, 2019 archive first page: 1
6. Just About the First Run After Bucharest Half Marathon 2023…: 1
6. Music category first page: 1
6. New Finds – XIII: 1
6. Not Planting Trees, Running or Watching Formula 1 Live, Plus a Wasted Trip: 1
6. Now I Know What Having Your Bowels Turn to Water Means…: 1
6. Quick Personal Update Between Euro 2016 Matches and Reading: 1
6. Quick Review: The House of Wael: 1
6. Quick Review: Weaveworld: 1
6. Recycling Center, Arcabit, Kingmaker and Yesterday: 1
6. Shallowness: 1
6. Tenth Personal Post in a Row, But Finished the Disciples Campaigns: 1
6. The Last Two Runs from May and the First One from June: 1
6. Was Rushing This Due to (Also) Starting Disciples, But It Stopped Working: 1
6. When Should Life Be Extended?: 1 |
| Page depth |
– 1: 54
– 3: 1
– 4: 1 |
Google Analytics 4 does not seem to list this. |
– 1: 33
– 2: 1
– 3: 1
– 4: 1
[2] |
| Browser |
1. Chrome: 39
2. Safari: 8
3. Mozilla Compatible Agent: 4
4. Unknown: 2
4. Firefox: 2
6. Edge: 1 |
1. Chrome: 19
2. Safari: 3
3. Unknown: 2
4. Edge: 1
4. Firefox: 1
4. Samsung Internet: 1 |
1. Headless Chrome: 18
2. Chrome: 12
3. Safari: 2
3. Unknown: 2
5. Edge: 1
5. Mobile Safari: 1 |
| Operating system |
1. Linux: 24
2. Android: 10
3. iOS: 7
4. Unknown: 6
4. Windows: 6
5. MacOS: 3 |
1. Android: 11
2. Linux: 5
2. Windows: 5
4. MacOS: 3
5. Unknown: 2
6. iOS: 1 |
1. Linux: 25
2. Windows: 5
3. MacOS: 3
4. Unknown: 2
5. iOS: 1 |
| Screen Resolution |
1. 1280×720: 16
2. 1366×1366: 9
3. 800×600: 7
4. 1280×1024: 5
4. 375×667: 5
6. 1600×1600: 3
6. 1920×1080: 3
8. 1200×1366: 2
8. 1920×1200: 2
8. 2560×1440: 2
11. 1536×864: 1
11. 390×844: 1 |
1. 1366×1366: 9
2. 1280×1024: 5
3. 800×600: 2
3. 1920×1080: 2
3. 1920×1200: 2
3. 2560×1440: 2
7. 375×667: 1
7. 390×844: 1
7. 1200×1366: 1
7. 1280×720: 1
7. 1536×864: 1 |
1. 1280×720: 16
2. 1280×1024: 5
2. 1920×1080: 5
4. 800×600: 4
5. 1920×1200: 2
5. 2560×1440: 2
7. 390×844: 1
7. 1536×864: 1 |
[1] In Google Analytics 4, when I add hostname as secondary dimension to the landing page option that actually seems to work, I end up with two more front page entries than the total, one being the one for the bands list front page, the other being an additional one for either site index or blog first page.
[2] No idea why the total is 42 when all other reports list 41 pageviews.
What seems clear is that Universal Analytics is much worse at filtering out spam, and that’s despite the fact that I used the filtered view, with all of my custom spam filters applied, which isn’t the case for the others. However, it’s also possible that some real visits are not caught by the others, and it’s quite clear that Matomo Analytics caught two visits that really do seem legitimate that were not caught by the others, possibly because the users blocked Google Analytics as a whole. There are also some differences in the reported technical information, which is strange, since that should be pretty clear.
On the other hand, strictly about Matomo Analytics, a huge problem is the fact that it does not list the complete URL, so reports will lump together pages that have the same path but are on different subdomains, and I can’t seem to find any way to include the full URL in the report. Doing so is an option for the page title listing, but that will lump together pages that are on the same subdomain and have the same title, and I also wonder how it will deal with titles that are generated through scripts and may change. And there are a number of other issues that I noticed so far, though on the other hand it seems much better than Google Analytics in plenty of other ways, and it’s definitely nice to not send the data anywhere.
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