eBay Q3 Earnings Released

eBay released its Q3 earnings report, which includes $3 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 32% year-over-year.
“Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”
PayPal accounts were up 14% year-over-year, with 103 million active registered accounts. PayPal’s revenue alone was up 32% year-over-year. The company attributes this to increased penetration on eBay itself, in addition to continued merchant and consumer adoption.
Here’s the release in its entirety:
eBay Inc. Reports Strong Third Quarter 2011 Results

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global ecommerce and online payments leader eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011, increased 32% to $3.0 billion, compared to the same period of 2010. The company reported third quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $490.5 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $628.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted share. The year-over-year increase in third quarter GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by strong top-line growth, partially offset by continued investment in key strategic initiatives and the impact of acquisitions.

“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

“Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”
The company’s PayPal business continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal ended the quarter with 103.0 million active registered accounts, a 14% increase year over year. PayPal revenue increased 32% year over year driven primarily by increased penetration on eBay as well as continued merchant and consumer adoption. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 31% to $29.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of last year. PayPal continues to invest in innovation, focusing on the core platform, as well as mobile and point of sale initiatives. PayPal expects to generate more than $3.5 billion in mobile TPV in 2011, up from $750 million in 2010.
The company’s Marketplaces business also delivered a strong third quarter performance. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) excluding vehicles increased by 16% year over year to $14.7 billion. U.S. GMV excluding vehicles increased 14% year over year, driven by continued improvements in customer experience on the site and growth in key shopping categories. International GMV excluding vehicles increased 18% year over year to $9.1 billion, reflecting solid growth in Europe, continued improved performance in Korea, as well as a positive impact from foreign exchange. Improved cross border trade performance contributed to GMV growth as currencies strengthened against the U.S. dollar. The company continued to benefit from growing adoption of its suite of mobile applications as downloads surpassed 50 million globally since the launch of mobile in the third quarter of 2008. eBay expects to generate almost $5 billion in mobile GMV in 2011, more than double mobile GMV in 2010.
The company’s GSI business, which was acquired in the second quarter of 2011, contributed $202.6 million in revenue for the third quarter. GSI generated $608 million in global ecommerce (GeC) merchandise sales during the quarter.
Third Quarter 2011 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)

		Third Quarter
		2011			2010			Change
GAAP
Net revenue		$	2,966		$	2,249		$	717		32	%
Net income		$	491		$	432		$	59		14	%
Earnings per diluted share		$	0.37		$	0.33		$	0.04		12	%
Non-GAAP
Net income		$	628		$	531		$	97		18	%
Earnings per diluted share		$	0.48		$	0.40		$	0.08		20	%
Business Units
Payments
Net revenue		$	1,107		$	838		$	269		32	%
Net total payment volume		$	29,282		$	22,365		$	6,917		31	%
Merchant Services		$	19,314		$	14,161		$	5,153		36	%
On eBay		$	9,968		$	8,204		$	1,764		22	%
Marketplaces
Net revenue		$	1,653		$	1,411		$	242		17	%
Gross merchandise volume (excl. vehicles)		$	14,666		$	12,591		$	2,075		16	%
U.S.		$	5,588		$	4,900		$	688		14	%
International		$	9,078		$	7,691		$	1,387		18	%
GSI
Net revenue		$	203		$	—		$	203		N/A
GeC Merchandise Sales		$	608		$	—		$	608		N/A

Other Selected Financial Results

• Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 18.1% for the third quarter of 2011, compared to 21.8% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 25.3% for the quarter, compared to 28.7% for the same period last year. The decrease in GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin was due primarily to the impact of acquisitions and business mix, partially offset by productivity gains.
• Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2011 was 20%, compared to 16% for the third quarter of 2010. The higher effective tax rate was due to geographic mix, acquisitions and other factors. For the third quarter of 2011 and 2010, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 21%.
• Cash flow — The company generated $809 million of operating cash flow and $526 million of free cash flow during the third quarter.
• Stock repurchase program — The company repurchased approximately $33 million of its common stock in the third quarter.
• Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $5.8 billion at September 30, 2011, compared to $7.8 billion at December 31, 2010.

Business Outlook

• Fourth quarter 2011 — eBay expects net revenues in the range of $3,200 – $3,350 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.47 – $1.53 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.55 – $0.58. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.

• Full year 2011 — eBay now expects net revenues in the range of $11,500 – $11,600 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.42 – $2.48 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.98 – $2.01. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.

Quarterly Conference Call
eBay will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2011 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC: non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and GSI businesses. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, including any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired recently or may be acquired in the future, including GSI; the company’s need to increasingly achieve growth from its existing users, particularly in its more established markets; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, credit card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and Bill Me Later, especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and grow its open platform initiative and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities, including GSI’s v.11 initiative, at reasonable cost; and the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.
More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

eBay Inc. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
		September 30, 2011			December 31, 2010
		(In thousands)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	2,998,950		$	5,577,411
Short-term investments		1,013,924			1,045,403
Accounts receivable, net		595,716			454,366
Loans and interest receivable, net		1,186,870			956,189
Funds receivable and customer accounts		3,295,115			2,550,731
Other current assets		671,770			481,238
Total current assets		9,762,345			11,065,338
Long-term investments		3,018,596			2,492,012
Property and equipment, net		1,859,190			1,523,333
Goodwill		8,341,910			6,193,163
Intangible assets, net		1,452,723			540,711
Other assets		465,773			189,205
Total assets		$	24,900,537		$	22,003,762
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Short-term debt		$	1,015,830		$	300,000
Accounts payable		269,031			184,963
Funds payable and amounts due to customers		3,295,115			2,550,731
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		1,427,706			1,343,888
Deferred revenue		108,274			96,464
Income taxes payable		29,196			40,468
Total current liabilities		6,145,152			4,516,514
Deferred and other tax liabilities, net		1,005,732			645,457
Long-term debt		1,528,158			1,494,227
Other liabilities		56,169			45,385
Total liabilities		8,735,211			6,701,583
Total stockholders’ equity		16,165,326			15,302,179
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		$	24,900,537		$	22,003,762

eBay Inc. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
		Three Months Ended September 30,								Nine Months Ended September 30,
		2011				2010				2011				2010
		(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Net revenues (2)		$	2,965,761			$	2,249,488			$	8,271,644			$	6,660,924
Cost of net revenues (1)		919,697				640,268				2,425,752				1,862,194
Gross profit		2,046,064				1,609,220				5,845,892				4,798,730
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing (1)		623,309				483,653				1,763,226				1,408,050
Product development (1)		318,902				226,803				890,921				662,259
General and administrative (1)		336,606				261,662				1,018,234				800,505
Provision for transaction and loan losses		146,054				97,964				371,641				296,025
Amortization of acquired intangible assets		84,605				45,957				181,978				148,104
Restructuring		(233		)		3,005				(482		)		20,437
Total operating expenses		1,509,243				1,119,044				4,225,518				3,335,380
Income from operations (2)		536,821				490,176				1,620,374				1,463,350
Loss on divested business		—				—				(256,501		)		—
Interest and other income (expense), net		78,704				26,825				110,972				47,692
Income before income taxes		615,525				517,001				1,474,845				1,511,042
Provision for income taxes		(125,022		)		(85,072		)		(225,070		)		(269,268		)
Net income		$	490,503			$	431,929			$	1,249,775			$	1,241,774
Net income per share:
Basic		$	0.38			$	0.33			$	0.97			$	0.95
Diluted		$	0.37			$	0.33			$	0.95			$	0.94
Weighted average shares:
Basic		1,289,631				1,308,888				1,290,921				1,303,217
Diluted		1,309,334				1,328,415				1,311,173				1,324,509
(1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
Cost of net revenues		$	14,210			$	11,833			$	42,637			$	36,116
Sales and marketing		32,259				26,350				100,370				80,030
Product development		25,665				24,389				90,778				75,544
General and administrative		36,088				31,208				112,147				96,142
		$	108,222			$	93,780			$	345,932			$	287,832

(2) For the three-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $84.7 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $31.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year. For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $213.8 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $62.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year.




resource:http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-q3-earnings-released-2011-10

Can Twitter Beat Facebook and Google+?

As you might imagine, there’s been a lot of talk about social networks at the Web 2.0 Summit, and particularly the escalating three-way battle among Facebook, Google and Twitter. While Google and Facebook have had their fair share of announcements recently, Twitter just added some major firepower to its arsenal, courtesy of Apple.
What do you think? Can Twitter win the social network market share war? Let us know what you think in the comments. Find this topic interesting? Why not share it on StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter or Google+?
One thing does seem clear. Deep Twitter integration with Apple’s iOS is huge for Twitter.
“The iOS integration is going to be absolutely huge for us, even better than we thought it was,” CEO Dick Costolo is quoted as saying at the Summit. “I didn’t realize how frictionless this would be. It’s so native.”
As far as Costolo is concerned, it is Twitter’s simplicity that is its biggest weapon against Facebook and Google+ (although I’d say that iOS integration is a pretty helpful weapon). He says part of the reason that Twitter has become so popular is because of its simplicity, and the fact that they’ve refrained from adding too many features, implying that this will continue to separate them from the pack as competitors continue to add more and more features.
That’s an interesting point, because Facebook and Google are basically in a “feature race” as Google’s Bradley Horowitz recently put it. In fact, Google CEO Larry Page touted the fact in the company’s earnings call last week, that Google+ added 100 features in 90 days.
Facebook certainly keeps changing things up.
Costolo’s comments are also interesting considering that this year, Twitter has perhaps added more features than any other time in Twitter’s history (since co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company). Dorsey, by the way, has recently even been called “the next Steve Jobs,” and by an early Apple employee. He does also run Square, which many see as a revolutionary product in the payments industry. It can’t hurt Twitter to have this kind of leadership at the core of its product development.
Perhaps the more important battle, however, is that for identity, rather than features, and that’s another area where that tight iOS integration might come in handy for Twitter. Apple announced that in its first 3 days of availability, it sold 4 million iPhone 4S devices (which run iOS 5). iOS 5 is also available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch 3rd generation, and iPod Touch 4th generation. Word is that a third of eligible devices have already been updated (which means potentially 2/3 more could still be upgraded), and Costolo says daily iOS Twitter sign-ups have already tripled due to the new iOS integration.
The description of the Twitter integration from Apple says: “iOS 5 makes it even easier to tweet from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Sign in once in Settings, and suddenly you can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps. Want to mention or @reply to a friend? Contacts applies your friends’ Twitter usernames and profile pictures. So you can start typing a name and iOS 5 does the rest. You can even add a location to any tweet, no matter which app you’re tweeting from.”
Once iOS 5 was finally released last week, Twitter wrote a blog post about it saying: “Simply enter your Twitter login information into your device settings, and you’ll always be connected to your Twitter account. This means you can tweet directly from Apple apps like Camera, Maps, Photos, Safari and YouTube, along with third party apps, such as Chomp, Flipboard, LivingSocial, Instagram, MadPad, PopSugar, Showyou,SoundTracking and Zynga’s Words with Friends.”

And it’s not as if you have to use iOS to use Twitter.
“We think we can reach every person on the planet, we think the way to do that is to simplify it,” Costolo is quoted as saying. “Over time, Google+ and Facebook will be more and more different than the experience we want to pass onto our users.”
On that note, the Telegraph has some interesting words from former Facebook President Sean Parker (who is still a shareholder), most notably, “The strategic threat to Facebook is that power users have gone to Twitter or to Google+.”
That doesn’t mean that all (or even the majority of) power users have abandoned Facebook entirely, but if a lot of them are using these competing services more, that means less time spent somewhere.
You know who else seems to be using Twitter more and more? The young.
Back to that topic of identity for a second. There is a lot of controversy about identity and the Internet. Facebook and Google+ both want your real identity as your identity with their respective services. I’m Chris Crum in real life, so they want me to be Chris Crum on Facebook and Google+ (Google is even stingy about what pics it lets authors use on their Google Profiles). On Twitter, however, I’m CCrum237. If I wanted, I could be anyone else I wanted to be (as long as the name wasn’t taken). There are valid points to both sides of the Internet anonymity debate, but the reality is that our online identities are being tied much more to the real world. It’s not just about status updates and picture sharing anymore. It’s about paying for goods at a store (among other things). At least that’s the direction we’re headed in. But that’s a conversation for another article.
4Chan founder Christopher Poole is quoted as saying at the summit that Facebook and Google approach to identity “degrades humanity,” and that “Facebook and Google do our identity wrong, Twitter does it better.” He’s just one man, but you better believe there are quite a few people who share similar views, and that is one clear differentiator of Twitter compared to its competitors. That’s one thing you can get with Twitter that you can’t get with Facebook or Google+. And that’s just another piece of the puzzle.
Twitter is currently worth $8 billion according Costolo, who is quoted as saying, “Let’s just call it an even $8 billion.” I have a feeling that number is going to go up substantially.
According to Costolo, Twitter users are sending out about 250 tweets per day. I’d be surprised if that number hasn’t increased significantly in another month.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say Twitter will be dethroning Facebook as the most-used social network in the near future, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen one day. Remember when Myspace was on top? Either way, it’s going to be an interesting battle to watch, especially now that Twitter is heavily integrated with the ultra popular iPhones and iPads.
What do you think? Will Twitter ever be able to surpass Facebook? Share your thoughts in the comments. 
About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237 StumbleUpon: Crum Google: +Chris Crum 
RESOURCE:http://www.webpronews.com/can-twitter-beat-facebook-and-google-2011-10

Google Encrypted Search Means No Info For Individual Queries

Google announced that it is going to begin encrypting search queries with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) as the default experience at Google.com when you search logged into your Google account. http://www.google.com will become https://www.google.com.
“This is especially important when you’re using an unsecured Internet connection, such as a WiFi hotspot in an Internet cafe,” says Google product manager Evelyn Kao.
There’s a chance that your Google experience will be slower with SSL because the computer your’e using has to establish a secure connection with Google. This is interesting, considering that Google has put so much effort into speeding things up.
It’s worth noting that you can just go to https://www.google.com when you’re signed out, and still use encrypted search.
Naturally, webmasters and SEOs are contemplating the effects this will have on search engine optimization and analytics.
Sites visited from Google’s organic listings will be able to tell that the traffic is coming from Google, but they won’t be able to receive info about each individual query. They will, however, receive an aggregated list of the top 1,000 search queries that drove traffic to the site for each of the past 30 days in Webmaster Tools.
“This information helps webmasters keep more accurate statistics about their user traffic,” says Kao. “If you choose to click on an ad appearing on our search results page, your browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and to improve the ads and offers they present to you.”
“When a signed in user visits your site from an organic Google search, all web analytics services, including Google Analytics, will continue to recognize the visit as Google ‘organic’ search, but will no longer report the query terms that the user searched on to reach your site,” says Amy Chang on the Google Analytics blog. “Keep in mind that the change will affect only a minority of your traffic. You will continue to see aggregate query data with no change, including visits from users who aren’t signed in and visits from Google ‘cpc’.”
“We are still measuring all SEO traffic. You will still be able to see your conversion rates, segmentations, and more,” she adds. “To help you better identify the signed in user organic search visits, we created the token ‘not provided)’ within Organic Search Traffic Keyword reporting. You will continue to see referrals without any change; only the queries for signed in user visits will be affected. Note that ‘cpc’ paid search data is not affected.”
Google is making the encrypted search available on all of its search properties except for Maps.

Tags: analytics , encrypted search , Google , google analytics , Privacy , search , Security , SSL , webmaster tools

About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237 StumbleUpon: Crum Google: +Chris Crum 

resource:http://www.webpronews.com/google-encrypted-search-means-no-info-for-individual-queries-2011-10

Google Tells You Exactly Where To Let Them Know When You’ve Been Hit By Panda

Google’s Kaspar Szymanski wrote a Google+ update yesterday afternoon, “Here’s the uber long thread on #Google webmaster help forum; if you think your legitimate, original content site has been affected by our #Panda update please feel free to let us know and tune in. We also have escalation forums where webmasters can escalate non-English sites in order to help us fine tune recent algorithms.
Szymanski is a “Google web spam fighter,” who says his occupation is “hunting web spam in Google search results and spearheading Google’s webmaster outreach efforts.
The thread is here, and it is long indeed. 163 pages long.
Google is indeed watching it though. Google’s John Mueller responded to a Barry Schwartz post when he suggested that it might be easy for Google to miss a post in such a long thread. Mueller wrote, “It’s certainly easier to follow a single thread than to follow lots of threads spread out across the web. Even if not all of the issues have the same cause, it makes it easier to track them, and pass possible issues on where appropriate.”
“If we follow as they get posted, we don’t have to go through the previous posts,” he said. “I subscribe to threads like these via email, it makes it easier to focus on the new posts, do a preliminary diagnosis and forward things where appropriate.” He later added that he sees it more as a feed than a discussion thread.
Users can subscribe to email alerts or RSS for when new replies are posted.
On a semi-related note, I ran across this video being shared on Google+. It doesn’t have anything to do with Google, but it has a Panda doing mean things, so I thought it seemed worth passing on.
About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237 StumbleUpon: Crum Google: +Chris Crum 

resource:http://www.webpronews.com/google-tells-you-exactly-where-to-let-them-know-when-youve-been-hit-by-panda-2011-10

Flow Visualization Comes to Google Analytics

Google announced the launch of Flow Visualization in Google Analytics. This is described as a tool that lets you analyze site insights graphically, and instantly understand how visitors flow across pages on your site.
There are actually two flow visualizations upon launch: Visitors Flow and Goal Flow. These will be rolling out to all accounts starting this week. More visualizations will come out later.
Visitors Flow shows who visitors flow through your site by traffic source or other dimensions, and see the path they take to the exit. This could be a pretty helpful tool in analyzing bounces and exits and useful for trying to reduce them. This visualization is shown in the image above.
“Nodes are automatically clustered according to an intelligence algorithm that groups together the most likely visitor flow through a site,” explains Phil Mui of the Google Analytics team. “You’ll also notice that we made the visualization highly interactive. You can interact with the graph to highlight different pathways, and to see information about specific nodes and connections. For example, if you want to dive deeper into your “specials” set of pages, you can hover over the node to see more at a glance.”
Goal Flow, pictured below, shows how visitors flow through your goal steps and where they dropped off. ” Because the goal steps are defined by the site owner, they should reflect the important steps and page groups of interest to the site,” says Mui. “In this first iteration, we’re supporting only URL goals, but we’ll soon be adding events and possibly other goal types.”

He says Goal Flow helps you understand the relative volume of visits by dimension (traffic, source, campaign, browser), the rates at which visitors abandon different paths, where and how visitors navigate the steps you define, and how they interact with your site (in terms of things like backtracking to previous goal steps).
Any advanced segments can be applied to a Flow Visualizer, and you can even visualize “backward” to see reverse paths to “identify suboptimal content”.
In the comments on Google’s announcement, people are already calling the feature a game changer. Do you agree?
resource:http://www.webpronews.com/google-analytics-flow-visualization-2011-10

About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237 StumbleUpon: Crum Google: +Chris Crum