Web Analytics in Brazil (South America, Part I)

August 6th, 2007 by Lars

A chat with Ruy Carneiro.

What differences do you see in the approach to web analytics if you compare Brazil to the United States?

Brazil is in its early stage if you compare it to the web analytics market in the United States. Brazilian ad agencies have won a lot of awards in Cannes, the Internet usage time here is very high and we have some 50 millions online users.

Most of the companies are, however, still using log-based tools such as WebTrends. They also use some free tools to monitor their servers and to report number of page views and unique visitors.

Things have begun to change since Google launched Google Analytics. Some companies have started implementing GA and are trying to understand how they can use it to improve their relationship with customers.

What is the biggest challenge with web analytics in Brazil?

There are several issues:

Lack of education in web analytics
Too much focus on bringing people to the site and too little focus on what happens when they come there
Too much reporting, too little analysis

How mature do you think the market for web analytics is in Brazil?

The market for web analytics is not yet mature, but I believe it may be mature in one or two years.

Ruy Carneiro started Nielsen NetRatings in Brazil in 2000 and his own consulting company in 2005.