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Two points of relevance: 1. Say I walk into a shop and they can't help me, so they suggest that I go another shop down the road. When I go into the second shop
by pierrefar 16y ago
Two points of relevance:
1. Say I walk into a shop and they can't help me, so they suggest that I go another shop down the road. When I go into the second shop, I always tell them that the first sent me. It's not an invasion of privacy at all and I think it's common courtesy.
So I don't understand why a search engine referral to a website is any different.
What I do worry about is what the target website does in terms of behavioral tracking, which is a bit creepy. Merely transferring referral info and letting websites use that in aggregate so they can understand their traffic better is something is not that creepy.
2. Google Webmaster Tools recently started showing keyword ranking and traffic data. If you study the data they share in WMT vs Google Analytics, a few patterns emerge. In a way, they are taking away the data Analytics shows and then give it back in WM Tools. This is one area to keep an eye on.
- ErrantX 16y agoI'd say point #1 isn't 100% the same. In your analogy search engine referrals might be akin to the shop you just left putting a sticker with their name on you.
- pierrefar 16y agoYes, fair point, but other scenarios are deemed acceptable too: referring shop giving me their business card to give to the destination shop, or them calling ahead "to check" if what I wanted is in stock, or telling me to say "Joe from Shop X sent you" and they'll take care of me. Also, two companies can partner and Company 1 can give a special discount to its customers to buy from Company 2, using a special promotion code. My point still stands I think: there are many kinds of referral tracking we deem acceptable in the offline world.