I love conspiracy theories. I am also superstitious; routinely avoiding ladders and black cats. Furthermore, I am sure I am being followed. It may be due to my cold-war childhood but I can’t help thinking someone is watching my clicks on Google ads. They are probably watching you too.

Now “they” may not be the US Government (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060119-060352) but it is likely to be Google themselves. And what a valuable source of information that is. Google routinely gather information not only about the innocent search words you use (I’ll neatly sidestep the issue of porno search’s - what you do in your spare time is your business) but also information about each click you make when using Google or its affiliates.  You may never intentionally visit Google.com, but the clicks on the Google Ad links on affiliates websites will leave a trail of footprints in the snow. All these clicks will be gathering useful stats on your habits back at Google HQ.

The value of click-through information cannot be underestimated. By monitoring the clicks people make as they pass through your website is hugely informative. It can show the level of interest for a particular service or product on your website and tools these days can identify the location of the visitor and even in some cases the visitors company. You should be monitoring the website “hits” particularly after a marketing campaign. Are you driving visitors to the right page, are they moving off too soon? Monitoring web clicks can help identify problems too, particular support pages with a  high level of clicks for instance.

As Google position themselves to over take Microsoft as the corporation we love to hate (this is not due to any fault of their own, its just a cynical world we live in) you can’t help admire their fortune (monetary as well as luck). They struck gold. But there are valuable nuggets of information in your web presence too, so don’t neglect them.

As my good friend and comrade Anatoly used to say, “Just because you are paranoid doesn’t meant to say no one is watching you”.