It there a way to count unique users that download podcast from itunes?

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+1 Q:

It there a way to count unique users that download podcast from itunes?

I created a podcast, and set it up in itunes. I am able to track the number of downloads for the media files, and I would like to know how many different users are downloading the files. I tried using cookies / sessions, but that doesn't seem to work. Itunes ignores cookies, and thus a new session id is created every download.

Is there another way to track unique itunes users of my podcast?

+1 A:

Cookies wouldn't work because if their cookies were cleared then it would count as a new user. The only "unique" thing about users are there IP addresses really. Since they're "downloading" it if two people use the same computer the chances of them both needing to download it are slim, so IP address would work decently well.

This isn't fool-proof but if you're just using this to get track stuff for yourself, it might be good enough.

William 2009-12-07 18:09:53

hmmm... NAT is so present these days I wouldn't count on IP-scope solutions.

jldupont 2009-12-07 18:11:46

That might be true, but name one other thing that is unique from all users that he can use? By the sounds of it he just wants a better estimate than what he has now. If you know of another way to track users I'm very interested. :)

William 2009-12-07 18:13:10

Another question, how many people in the US use NAT? I'm always getting in debates with developers telling me how counting on IP addresses are fine because most people have static IP addresses, bringing up AOL users and proxy users only gets so far.

William 2009-12-07 18:16:28

Thanks for the answer. I am aware of the IP limitations caused by NAT, proxies, and people accessing the content from many different internet connection with laptops / iphones. While not as good as a cookie, IP data should be good enough.

John C 2009-12-07 18:56:16

I use FeedBurner to track subscribers and downloads of my podcast. Gives a lot of great stats.

Owen 2010-06-25 20:05:37

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It there a way to count unique users that download podcast from itunes?

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