A huge number of websites ( including this one ), use Google Analytics to track Internet traffic as well as traffic patterns. A large set of data can be gathered based on user’s location such as location, OS version, browser version and much more – although the user can not be personally identified. Even then, Google has decided to release a browser add-on which lets users opt-out of Google Analytics. This seems like a move in reaction to steadily rising privacy concerns about online services and websites such as Facebook and Google.
The opt-out add on is available for all major browsers ( except Safari and Opera, if you consider them popular ), such as Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Google Chrome ( 4.x and higher ) and Firefox 3.5 and higher. This add-on simply communicates with Google Analytics JavaScript to indicate that information about the particular visit should not be sent to Google. This JavaScript is embedded in websites that use Google Analytics.
Google also provides methods to stop gathering data for various other services. Why hasn’t Google made opting-out as easier as disabling tracking using a cookie is weird. Maybe Google doesn’t wan many people to opt-out of Google Analytics. If more people get on board with using this add-on, the reliability of Google Analytics will definitely suffer and webmasters and bloggers might jump ship to competing analytics services.
If you’re interested in opting-out, head over to the add-on download website and install the add-on.
