Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Web Analytics World is Shrinking

The web analytics market just got a whole lot smaller with the news of Omniture’s intention to acquire Visual Sciences for $394 million. It was no secret that Visual Sciences was up for sale, yet speculators believed that a software goliath without a pre-existing analytics solution would enter the market with a quick pick-up of Visual Sciences. The convergence of these technologies will not happen overnight and integration may prove to be the lynchpin of this relationship.

Omniture’s acquisition strategy includes geographic expansion (Instadia), strategic technology additions (Touch Clarity and Offermatica) and domestic consolidation for financial leverage. This newest deal certainly strengthens the fulcrum for financial leverage and succeeds in enhancing the technology additions through the unique capabilities Visual Sciences brings to web analytics.

Considering Omniture’s expanding feature set of strategic technologies and its “Business Optimization” messaging, I question whether Omniture will become the marquee platform for digital marketers. Their analytics horsepower and growing internal capabilities notwithstanding, the burgeoning Genesis Network is seeding its alliances throughout the digital marketing technology landscape. As this evolving ecosystem takes shape, it will be interesting to witness conflicting forces of buy-in/rejection on the client side and dismissal/competition from vendors. Buckle up and stay tuned, because this will get interesting.

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