Adobe Buys Omniture – Web Analytics Is Now Big Business!
The top story this week has been the bizarre buyout of Omniture by Adobe. Why does a content production conglomerate want to buy the world’s most expensive analytics product suite?
I want to shed some light on what I think might be the reasoning behind this bold move, and how the analytics landscape is shaping up for the future.
Why Omniture?
First of all, Adobe does not deal with cheap products. Anyone who has bought an Adobe product knows what I am talking about. So, if Adobe were looking to buy analytics software, it would have to be top of the line – and Omniture IS the shogun of web analytics programs.
Why Does Adobe Want Analytics?
The reason that makes the most sense: Adobe product users will be able to use Omniture to track the effectiveness of their online content. The big buzz is about how Omniture’s SiteCatalyst product is going to help users analyze and monetize their Flash video content. Could this be a marriage made in Flash Heaven?
But… $1.8 billion to let users analyze their Flash content seems like a lot. I am sure that a team of highly specialized analysts reviewed the numbers, audited the sales figures and arrived at the incredible price of $1.8B. I, on the other hand, agree with the analysts who think Adobe overpaid in this deal.
This move is especially risky since it’s common knowledge that monetization of videos is HARD. Anyone in doubt should see how shifty Google execs get when questions about YouTube monetization are brought up on their earnings calls.
How Adobe is going to bundle Omniture with their other products will be an exercise in salesmanship. It will be one of the most interesting tech pairings, and definitely one to watch over the next few years.
The Google Analytics Factor
There is a pink elephant in the room: Google Analytics. I personally think that Google Analytics can do almost everything that SiteCatalyst does – for FREE.
Plus, I’m not sure how the elite clients of Omniture are going to react now that Omniture is just another Adobe product. Think of it like this: You go to an exclusive vendor to buy analytics in a high-end retail showroom. Then you find out it’s going to be sold at Target on a shelf next to the Acrobat Suite (no offense to Target or Acrobat).
In these times of cost-cutting, I’m also wondering how Adobe is going to be able to upsell its already expensive suite of products. Especially when there is a very good chance that the Google Analytics team is already working on upgrading their product suite to better track videos, Flash, etc, on the web. Once that capability is ready, I don’t know how many companies will pay for premium video and flash tracking.
However, in the end, I am a big fan of web analytics. So I’m glad that, finally, web analytics is having its glory day in the hot sun…complete with big money, fame and sexy buyouts!
