Generate Google Analytics events (__utm.gif requests) serverside

Question

Hi, I am willing to use Google Analytics to track stats about usage of my Client/Server application (no Browser on the user computer!).

So I guess if anyone ever tried to craft requests to __utm.gif from serverside code.

I have found some information on the request and relevant cookies at google website but there are no details on the cookies values passed in the "utmcc" variable.

I understand that I will not be able to "craft" some of the information which Analytics server derives from the request itself (one for all: the source IP address!). I can't generate requests from the Client computer.

Does anyone have experience with this scenario? Any detailed information or resource? Any working code snippet (any language will do! :)?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Interesting requirement...

Your best bet would probably be to attempt to reverse engineer the google analytics javascript a little...

With firefox, and firebug, go to a web site that uses google analytics then open firebug and look at the GET that is submitted to google analytics. If you can then create an HttpRequest with those same parameters and headers you should be able to fool google analytics into thinking you're coming from a web page.

Answer 2

From inspecting my cookies in firefox for a site that is a known user of google analytics I see it stores 3 values (all 3 start with 2 underscores):

• __utmc - 9 digit integer (probably)
• __utma - very long integer with periods thrown in (starts with 9 digits above)
• __utmz - long string period seperated (starts with 9 digits from utmc)

My guess is utmc is your tracking session id.

Answer 3

I asked a similar question recently and somebody gave me a link, and I found another from the same site:

http://www.vdgraaf.info/wp-content/uploads/image-url-explained.txt
http://www.vdgraaf.info/wp-content/uploads/urchin-image.txt

I haven't fully tested it yet, I'm still working on implementing it. Also, it seems like it's a little old and there's no documentation of how to log events, only page views.

Answer 4

Embed the script in an HTML page with variable placeholders for page title and such, then load the page in an embedded IE instance server side. The GA script allows you to track page events by specifying parameters to the main tracking function, so all you'd have to do is keep the template HTML page in memory, replace the placeholders, and load the page in the embedded IE instance. The IE instance would parse and execute the javascript like it were a normal page and bingo, you've got your tracking.

This is theoretical, of course, and not tested.

Answer 5

Hello, Is there any updated documentation for this. I am trying tracking analytics events with ASP.NET. I need to track some events in the Server Side after some functionality is completed on Server Side. How to adjust this on Server Side. I am a newbie on this? Appreciate help regarding this.

Thanks, Raj

Answer 6

you might want to give http://code.google.com/p/serversidegoogleanalytics/ a try. its working for me (in combination with zend framework for the http request).