Yesterday, Omniture released a real-time iPhone analytics SDK. (Main TechCrunch coverage here.)
On the innovation side, this is a big deal. The iPhone market shows that consumers, frustrated with the suboptimal mobile browsing experience, prefer actual applications. Example: I use the iPhone Remember the Milk application every day, and can’t imagine using a mobile website.
As consumers bypass websites, it leaves marketers without a way to capture sales-cycle metrics. (A personal favorite: Startup Metrics for Pirates.) Building metrics into applications is a no brainer–expect that trend to accelerate.
But before you get excited, realize this particular SDK is useless without an Omniture account. And since Omniture’s primary customers include giants like Microsoft, eBay, and Disney, it’s too expensive for most iPhone developers.
Yesterday, I talked with Matt Langie, Omniture’s Senior Director of Product Marketing. He brushed off questions about privacy, saying the data is entirely anonymized. Maybe so, but the RealNetworks scandal wasn’t THAT long ago.
He also said no current apps have integrated this technology, but since Apple is a current Omniture customer, they don’t expect any problems with the App store approval process. (Although this wouldn’t be the first time Apple ventured into the gray.)
Robin’s post yesterday included a list of competitors.
Jeff, I am confused as to why the App store approval process is even involved. What Omniture developed (and as part of the beta team, we know), is frameworks for developers – not a stand alone product that would need App store approval. Perhaps you are mixing it up with the current sitecatalyst viewer that Omniture already has on the app store.
Scott–I admit I really don’t know much about the App store approval process (does anyone outside of Apple?)
But I think Apple will want to know if applications are tracking customers data (they certainly remember the RealNetworks blowup)–and I don’t know what they’ll accept/reject in that department.
If you ‘re positive otherwise, let me know!