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I'm working on an (open-source) alternative to Google Analytics [0] and it's true, you cannot track users with perfect precision. It's technically not possible

I'm working on an (open-source) alternative to Google Analytics [0] and it's true, you cannot track users with perfect precision. It's technically not possible to archive, but you can fix some of the issues, like tracking on the backend to get around ad blockers or by setting up a CNAME record and serve the script from your own domain. Anyway, even if tracking (or analytics, which is not the same!) isn't perfect, it's at least an indicator of how well you're doing. Which is better than having no data at all. Paying for ads that were "clicked" by bots or simply don't reach the target audience is a whole different story and the author is right, you will probably waste money. [0] https://pirsch.io/ https://pirsch.io/

waltherg 6y ago
I'm intrigued by what you wrote about CNAME records. Could you elaborate on that briefly?
- iamacyborg 6y ago
  Masking third party tracking through CNAME. ad blockers are already blocking this deceptive shit. https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/brave_cname_block/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/brave_cname_block/
  - marvinblum 6y ago
    Uh that's interesting, I didn't new that. Thanks :)
    - iamacyborg 6y ago
      Yup, I don't mean to disparage your product but masking third party cookies is not great from a transparency perspective.
  - marvinblum 6y ago
    I cannot answer your other comment, but Pirsch won't use cookies. That the CNAME trick doesn't work anymore is not too much of an issue.
- marvinblum 6y ago
  Depending on the script (if it's configurable), you can send the request made to your own server instead of some analytics solution and redirect that request using a CNAME record. Combined with the script being served from you own domain, blockers will think it's a regular request and won't block it. They usually use a blacklist to filter unwanted traffic (like to GA). As we are still working on Pirsch, we don't have a documentation to explain the setup in more detail yet, but you should be able to find instructions somewhere. [Edit] Okay, so it seems like blockers will catch that, see iamacyborgs comment. But we will provide a nice and simple backend integration which basically will do the same as the script, but is unblockable. [Edit #2] Looks like it will only block cookies using this technique, so it should work as described.
908087 6y ago
> but you can fix some of the issues, like tracking on the backend to get around ad blockers or by setting up a CNAME record and serve the script from your own domain. Or maybe just stop trying to come up with new sleazy methods to track people who don't want you to stalk them?

waltherg 6y ago

I'm intrigued by what you wrote about CNAME records. Could you elaborate on that briefly?

iamacyborg 6y ago
Masking third party tracking through CNAME. ad blockers are already blocking this deceptive shit. https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/brave_cname_block/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/brave_cname_block/
- marvinblum 6y ago
  Uh that's interesting, I didn't new that. Thanks :)
  - iamacyborg 6y ago
    Yup, I don't mean to disparage your product but masking third party cookies is not great from a transparency perspective.
- marvinblum 6y ago
  I cannot answer your other comment, but Pirsch won't use cookies. That the CNAME trick doesn't work anymore is not too much of an issue.
marvinblum 6y ago
Depending on the script (if it's configurable), you can send the request made to your own server instead of some analytics solution and redirect that request using a CNAME record. Combined with the script being served from you own domain, blockers will think it's a regular request and won't block it. They usually use a blacklist to filter unwanted traffic (like to GA). As we are still working on Pirsch, we don't have a documentation to explain the setup in more detail yet, but you should be able to find instructions somewhere. [Edit] Okay, so it seems like blockers will catch that, see iamacyborgs comment. But we will provide a nice and simple backend integration which basically will do the same as the script, but is unblockable. [Edit #2] Looks like it will only block cookies using this technique, so it should work as described.

908087 6y ago

> but you can fix some of the issues, like tracking on the backend to get around ad blockers or by setting up a CNAME record and serve the script from your own domain. Or maybe just stop trying to come up with new sleazy methods to track people who don't want you to stalk them?