Content area
Full text
Larry would like to thank Tim Perry for his contributions to this month's article.
In 2006, Time magazine awarded its annual Person of the Year distinction to the newly empowered blogger, article review writer, photo uploader and videomaker. They gave the award to "You" - the prosumer (a new word that combines producer and consumer). While their selection was controversial, it does mark a very significant turning point in business. People browsing Web sites are no longer purely passive viewers - in some cases, they can be as active as your employees. Companies across all industries have been spending a great deal of time and energy in recent years eliminating customer intelligence gaps and becoming customer-centric within their off-line processes. Hiring anthropologists and performing in- depth customer observation has impacted product development and refinement from organizations. Understanding customers' real issues and how they use products during their daily routine has provided valuable feedback for organizations designing new products and services.
For organizations with a significant Web presence, the same type of observation can be performed on a much grander scale through Web analytics. Within progressive companies, Web analytics has moved away from a pure IT-based consideration into a primary focus for management, sales and marketing resources trying to answer questions such as:
* Where are your customers or...