Damned lies and statistics

We did have Google Analytics set up to see how many people were viewing the blog and where they came from.  Then I saw that Blogger in draft offered a similar service.  Since the notes said that the two tools used different methods to monitor, I thought I'd look at a comparison between what they said for the same period.

They weren't kidding that the results differ - for the same period more or less Analytics showed 554 page views while Blogger in Draft showed 237.  And the sources of visits (for Analytics - second table) and pageviews (Draft - first table) were also somewhat different:

There are enough discrepancies between the two to assume unreliability for one (or both) - like several pageviews from China but no visits.  It is a bit surprising considering the two tools are provided by the same company!

You can also see information on terms typed into search engines that sent people to you.  I can't help but think that the person in Moldova who wanted a photo of a Karakul sheep may have been a little disappointed.  So on the off chance that they come back...