The world’s leading web analytics company Omniture was purchased earlier today by Adobe Systems for US$1.8 billion.
The move has sent shockwaves among the web analytics community as it is likely this will begin a stream of consolidation in the industry and limit alternative solutions. The next likely web analytics providers which could be purchased include: Coremetrics, webtrends, Lyris.
The web analytics purchase supports Adobe in their ability to better optimise its suite of content creation tools. Adobe can use now use Omniture within its software to perform better analysis and content optimisation leading to improved user experience.
Typically flash has been difficult to track and optimise for search and Adobe now has a vested interest in making it work for business. Because of the now open access to Adobe IP the Omniture development team is in a strong position to provide the best flash tracking solutions.
Adobe already has several established products which allow for creation, deliver and user engagement.
- Flash (Web Apps)
- Acrobat (PDFs)
- Air (Desktop Apps)
Adobe can now examine the use of benchmarking usage of web or desktop applications and measure user activity or track campaign success. Using a benchmark system powered by Omniture, developers can potentially have the ability to rate their Flash/Air applications usage and revenue by categories such as industry or demographic.
This better feedback will allow companies to build larger more complex projects based around Adobe technologies. Adobe can also extend the potential revenue stream by closing the loop and advertisers can now begin to explore how to track campaigns beyond the web to desktop/mobiles.
The purchase places Google in an interesting position with a heavy dependence on Flash within its own web analytics platform and even across its ad network. Does Google have the resources to replace flash with AJAX/Java as used in its Google Apps suite?
Google Analytics has previously had the advantage over Omniture because it’s free but Adobe also built its market dominance on that same freeware concept. Based on past Adobe product launches they will release an Omniture Lite that just offers reporting similar to Google Analytics soon.