Adobe Expands Web Analytics Toolset With Social Network Analysis Apps

Adobe Systems Wednesday debuted new releases of its Adobe Online Marketing Suite and SiteCatalyst Web analytics tool, both based on the Omniture technology Adobe acquired in 2009, and added an application for analyzing data from social networks.

Adobe also said it is expanding its partner ecosystem with solution providers who previously worked with Demdex, the data management platform company Adobe bought in January for an undisclosed sum.

Adobe unveiled the new products at the Adobe Omniture Summit 2011 conference in Salt Lake City.

"We are delivering on our promise to make digital marketing easier so that marketers spend less time on technology and more time on what they do best, marketing," said Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager of Adobe's Omniture business unit, in a statement.

The new Adobe Online Marketing Suite offers a range of performance enhancements, including the ability to process complex reports more quickly; a common data set for multiple products within the suite, including SiteCatalyst, Adobe Discover and Adobe DataWarehouse; and improved data sharing across the suite's applications.

The new release of SiteAnalytics offers real-time segmentation capabilities, allowing a user to run a report in real time filtered by segments such as Facebook users, mobile users or visitors to a Web site that made purchases. Adobe also said the new SiteCatalyst is easier to use, thanks to a new user interface and improved search functionality for finding specific reports without sorting through the menu system.

Adobe is also offering a SiteCatalyst application for the popular Apple iPad tablet.

Next: The Power To Analyze Facebook And Twitter Activity

The new Adobe SocialAnalytics application, also part of the Adobe Online Marketing Suite, helps marketers monitor activity on social networks, such as comments on Facebook or Twitter about their company, and analyze how that activity impacts sales and other business metrics and affects brand perception. Users will even be able to gain insight into the impact of viral videos.

"The social Web is the largest focus group on the planet and marketers are striving to figure out how best to listen and participate," Rencher said. "What marketers have been missing is a solution that helps them identify the most relevant voices and activities, tie social activity to brand and business impact, and then take action to optimize that impact."

The new release of SiteCatalyst and the new SocialAnalytics are both in beta. The new Sitecatalyst will be generally available in the second quarter and SocialAnalytics will be available in the third quarter.

Adobe is integrating the Demdex data management platform, used by businesses to manage strategic assets, into the Adobe Online Marketing Suite to improve the platform's audience optimization capabilities. Advertisers and publishers use Demdex to manage online marketing activities including visitor acquisition and conversion and sales channel analysis.

Adobe is tapping into the Demdex base of partners to expand the range of services it offers customers. Those include partners such as Acxiom, DataLogix, eXelate and TargusInfo that provide data on everything from business demographics to customer buying behavior; demand-side applications from DataXu and Turn that provide advertisers with display ad inventory; and providers of ad servers and video networks such as Auditude, BrightRoll, FreeWheel and Yume that place display or video ads on Websites.

"The fact is that technology providers have to join together to successfully bring the most relevant, innovative advertising to consumers in this fragmented space, and this is just one more example," said Doug Knopper, co-founder and co-CEO of FreeWheel, a video ad server company, in a statement about partnering with Adobe.