<s>
Mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
studies	O
the	O
behaviour	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
website	I-Application
users	O
in	O
a	O
similar	O
way	O
to	O
traditional	O
web	O
analytics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
commercial	O
context	O
,	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
collected	O
from	O
the	O
users	O
who	O
access	O
a	O
website	O
from	O
a	O
mobile	O
phone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
helps	O
to	O
determine	O
which	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
website	O
work	O
best	O
for	O
mobile	O
traffic	O
and	O
which	O
mobile	O
marketing	O
campaigns	O
work	O
best	O
for	O
the	O
business	O
,	O
including	O
mobile	O
advertising	O
,	O
mobile	O
search	O
marketing	O
,	O
text	O
campaigns	O
,	O
and	O
desktop	O
promotion	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
sites	I-Application
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
majority	O
of	O
modern	O
smartphones	B-Application
are	O
able	O
to	O
browse	O
websites	O
,	O
some	O
with	O
browsing	O
experiences	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
of	O
desktop	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
W3C	O
Mobile	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Initiative	O
identifies	O
best	O
practices	O
to	O
help	O
websites	O
support	O
mobile	O
phone	O
browsing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
companies	O
use	O
these	O
guidelines	O
and	O
mobile-specific	O
code	O
like	O
Wireless	B-General_Concept
Markup	I-General_Concept
Language	I-General_Concept
or	O
HTML5	B-Application
to	O
optimize	O
websites	O
for	O
viewing	O
on	O
mobile	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collecting	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
data	O
has	O
proven	O
to	O
be	O
less	O
straightforward	O
than	O
traditional	O
web	O
analytics	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
few	O
factors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Traditional	O
analytics	O
software	O
on	O
a	O
mobile	B-Application
website	I-Application
only	O
provides	O
data	O
for	O
HTTP	O
requests	O
coming	O
from	O
the	O
most	O
advanced	O
mobile	O
browsers	B-Application
;	O
such	O
as	O
those	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
other	O
smart	B-Application
phones	I-Application
and	O
PDAs	B-Application
,	O
with	O
no	O
data	O
on	O
other	O
mobile	O
devices	O
browsing	O
the	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
common	O
web	O
analytics	O
software	O
that	O
use	O
server	O
log	O
parsing	O
to	O
associate	O
different	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
with	O
"	O
unique	O
visits	O
"	O
may	O
fail	O
to	O
actually	O
identify	O
unique	O
visitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
due	O
to	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
from	O
each	O
mobile	O
device	O
originating	O
from	O
a	O
gateway	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
of	O
the	O
network	O
access	O
provider	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
dynamic	O
server-side	O
platforms	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
mobile	B-Application
sites	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
unsupported/HTML	O
sites	O
,	O
the	O
JavaScript	B-Language
pixel	B-Protocol
tracking	I-Protocol
mechanism	O
is	O
most	O
commonly	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
mobile	B-Application
websites	I-Application
are	O
typically	O
open	O
to	O
access	O
from	O
any	O
kind	O
of	O
network	O
-	O
fixed	O
,	O
Wi-Fi	O
,	O
cellular	O
wireless	O
,	O
satellite	O
wireless	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
involve	O
metrics	O
and	O
KPIs	O
associated	O
with	O
mobile	O
device	O
information	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
model	O
,	O
manufacturer	O
,	O
and	O
screen	O
resolution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
data	O
can	O
usually	O
be	O
assembled	O
by	O
combining	O
device	O
identification	O
information	O
taken	O
from	O
special	O
HTTP	O
headers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
user-agents	O
,	O
with	O
device	O
capabilities	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
device	O
information	O
registry	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
WURFL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visitor	O
identification	O
is	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
aspect	O
of	O
usable	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
and	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
hardest	O
technical	O
aspects	O
to	O
accomplish	O
,	O
primarily	O
because	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
HTTP	B-Application
cookies	I-Application
are	O
so	O
unreliable	O
on	O
mobile	O
browsers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
some	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
solutions	O
only	O
detect	O
or	O
count	O
user	O
visits	O
per	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Javascript-based	O
Page	O
tagging	O
notifies	O
a	O
third-party	O
server	O
when	O
a	O
page	O
is	O
rendered	O
by	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
method	O
assumes	O
that	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
browser	B-Application
has	O
JavaScript	B-Language
capabilities	O
and	O
that	O
JavaScript	B-Language
is	O
enabled	O
,	O
though	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
that	O
neither	O
may	O
be	O
true	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
most	O
mobile	B-Application
web	I-Application
browsers	B-Application
do	O
not	O
support	O
JavaScript	B-Language
sufficiently	O
for	O
this	O
to	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HTTP	B-Application
cookies	I-Application
are	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
mark	O
and	O
identify	O
visitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cookies	B-Application
are	O
a	O
standard	O
capability	O
for	O
all	O
desktop	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
prevalence	O
of	O
iPhones	B-Device
and	O
Androids	O
,	O
HTTP	B-Application
cookies	I-Application
are	O
now	O
supported	O
by	O
most	O
smartphones	B-Application
,	O
because	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
iPhones	B-Device
and	O
Android	O
phones	O
will	O
accept	O
browser	B-Application
cookies	I-Application
from	O
web	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
desktop	O
browsers	B-Application
,	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
user	O
may	O
choose	O
to	O
disable	O
cookies	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HTTP	B-Protocol
referrer	I-Protocol
information	O
showing	O
where	O
a	O
visitor	O
navigated	O
from	O
is	O
generally	O
not	O
provided	O
for	O
mobile	B-Application
web	I-Application
browsing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
either	O
because	O
the	O
device	O
manufacturer	O
has	O
disabled	O
sending	O
such	O
information	O
in	O
the	O
HTTP	O
request	O
to	O
save	O
bandwidth	O
during	O
network	O
usage	O
,	O
or	O
because	O
the	O
mobile	O
network	O
operator	O
's	O
internet	O
gateway	O
removes	O
or	O
alters	O
the	O
original	O
HTTP	O
header	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
gateway	O
software	O
or	O
use	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
web	I-Application
transcoding	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Handset	O
caching	O
mechanisms	O
impact	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
images	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
tagging	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
mobile	B-Application
web	I-Application
browsing	O
,	O
the	O
client	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
the	O
internet	O
gateway	O
machine	O
owned	O
by	O
the	O
network	O
operator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
BlackBerry	B-Operating_System
or	O
for	O
phones	O
using	O
Opera	B-Protocol
Mini	I-Protocol
browser	B-Application
software	O
,	O
the	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
an	O
operator-owned	O
internet	O
gateway	O
machine	O
in	O
Canada	O
or	O
Norway	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collection	O
of	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
data	O
requires	O
a	O
different	O
approach	O
from	O
collecting	O
traditional	O
web	O
analytics	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tagless	O
data	O
capture	O
techniques	O
are	O
increasing	O
in	O
popularity	O
for	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
because	O
they	O
capture	O
all	O
users	O
,	O
work	O
with	O
all	O
devices	O
and	O
do	O
not	O
require	O
JavaScript	B-Language
,	O
cookies	B-Application
,	O
server	O
logs	O
,	O
or	O
plugins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Images	O
can	O
be	O
forced	O
to	O
work	O
for	O
mobile	B-Protocol
web	I-Protocol
analytics	I-Protocol
,	O
provided	O
that	O
the	O
transmitted	O
image	O
is	O
always	O
unique	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
level	O
of	O
information	O
recorded	O
from	O
these	O
transmissions	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
architecture	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
supplier	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
all	O
image	B-Protocol
beacon	I-Protocol
solutions	O
are	O
the	O
same	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
only	O
reliable	O
way	O
to	O
record	B-Protocol
clicks	I-Protocol
from	O
advertising	O
,	O
search	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
marketing	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
method	O
helps	O
address	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
referrer	I-Protocol
information	O
on	O
mobile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
tells	O
you	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
basic	O
facts	O
about	O
the	O
mobile	O
phone	O
and	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
a	O
device	O
database	O
such	O
as	O
WURFL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
operator	O
database	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
operators	O
and	O
their	O
countries	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
of	O
their	O
internet	O
gateway	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
alone	O
do	O
not	O
identify	O
all	O
operators	O
and	O
countries	O
,	O
as	O
some	O
operators	O
share	O
their	O
mobile	O
networks	O
with	O
virtual	O
network	O
operators	O
(	O
MVNO	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Carriers	O
may	O
also	O
share	O
their	O
mobile	B-Application
internet	I-Application
gateways	O
,	O
sometimes	O
across	O
multiple	O
countries	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
change	O
or	O
add	O
gateways	O
on	O
a	O
regular	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
