1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,770 Welcome back to the deep dive today. We're on a mission really to simplify web 2 00:00:04,770 --> 00:00:05,480 metrics 3 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,600 If you're just tired of those confusing dashboards or spending hours trying to 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,260 figure out GDPR compliance or you know 5 00:00:12,260 --> 00:00:15,640 Watching your own website slow down because of all these trackers, which it does 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,880 then this deep dive is definitely for you 7 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,400 We're looking at plausible analytics 8 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:25,060 It's a simple open source alternative that really tries to fix the big problems 9 00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:25,920 with web metrics 10 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:31,430 It does it focuses on privacy and clarity over just collecting endless amounts of 11 00:00:31,430 --> 00:00:31,800 data 12 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:36,090 Exactly, and before we really unpack this I do want to thank the supporter of our 13 00:00:36,090 --> 00:00:36,920 deep dive today 14 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,040 Oh court, the show is supported by safe server 15 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,030 They specialize in hosting this kind of software and can support you in your 16 00:00:43,030 --> 00:00:45,840 digital transformation for more information 17 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,880 Just visit www.safeserver.de 18 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,360 It's great to get into this because when you really analyze plausible you see they've 19 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,880 Positioned themselves against well the spattest quo their core identity the two 20 00:00:58,880 --> 00:00:59,280 pillars 21 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,960 they really hang their hat on are just absolute simplicity and 22 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:09,860 Uncompromising privacy compliance they're trying to give you what you need without 23 00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:13,080 selling out your visitors data. Okay, let's start there 24 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,330 Then let's unpack that frustration with the business model because that really is 25 00:01:16,330 --> 00:01:17,640 the philosophical foundation 26 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:23,280 For years the big tools like Google Analytics have been free 27 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,840 Why is that a problem? Well, the sources are really clear on this 28 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,270 The established tools are free because you are the product the old saying exactly 29 00:01:31,270 --> 00:01:33,920 their entire fortune is built on this idea of 30 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,520 surveillance capitalism collecting just 31 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,750 Vast complex amounts of personal information about people across sites across 32 00:01:41,750 --> 00:01:43,640 devices to build profiles 33 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,920 But they then sell for ads right to monetize through advertising they extract data 34 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,200 and plausibles approach is yeah complete opposite 35 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,030 Totally. They are an independently owned open source project and their funding 36 00:01:55,030 --> 00:01:59,060 structure comes from paid subscriptions from you the customer from you 37 00:01:59,060 --> 00:02:03,830 So there's absolutely zero incentive to collect sell or you know share personal 38 00:02:03,830 --> 00:02:05,540 information with anyone you keep 39 00:02:05,540 --> 00:02:11,810 100% ownership and control over your own data, which is a huge psychological and 40 00:02:11,810 --> 00:02:12,760 legal difference 41 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,550 So if you're a beginner or a small business owner that subscription is basically a 42 00:02:17,550 --> 00:02:19,080 vote for transparency 43 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,400 Okay, let's jump into that first pillar then 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,220 Simplicity when you open something like Google Analytics, you're just hit with all 45 00:02:27,220 --> 00:02:30,040 these menus custom reports metrics. You don't even understand 46 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,620 How does plausible actually solve that for a new user? 47 00:02:34,620 --> 00:02:38,160 They call it clutter free and our sources really confirm 48 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,000 This is true instead of this massive dashboard built for I don't know every 49 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,440 possible metric, right? 50 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:48,380 Plausible focuses on delivering the essential insights page views visitor sources 51 00:02:48,380 --> 00:02:50,780 top pages conversions all on one single page 52 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:55,970 Just one page one digestible page. No layers of menus to dig through no need for 53 00:02:55,970 --> 00:02:58,600 custom reports and really no training necessary 54 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,310 It's all there on a single screen that immediately just cuts the learning curve 55 00:03:02,310 --> 00:03:03,440 down to almost nothing 56 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,500 But simplicity also means technical performance for your site, right? 57 00:03:07,500 --> 00:03:12,460 We have to talk about speed we do this is what they call the lightweight script 58 00:03:12,460 --> 00:03:12,940 benefit 59 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,770 The little piece of code you add to your site. It's microscopic. How small are we 60 00:03:17,770 --> 00:03:18,260 talking? 61 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:23,130 It's roughly 75 times smaller than the Google Analytics script and this isn't just 62 00:03:23,130 --> 00:03:25,640 a fun fact. It has very tangible 63 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:31,120 Real world impacts. Okay, like what I mean besides making your pages load faster 64 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:36,230 Which is obviously huge for SEO and keeping users happy. Well, it also has this 65 00:03:36,230 --> 00:03:38,320 surprising sustainability angle 66 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,490 Oh interesting because the script is so small and needs so few resources. It 67 00:03:42,490 --> 00:03:44,940 actually reduces your website's carbon footprint 68 00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:48,920 The source is highlight that a site with say a hundred thousand monthly visitors 69 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,500 can save about eight point two kilograms of co2 emissions a year 70 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:56,190 Just from switching analytics tools just by making that switch and while eight 71 00:03:56,190 --> 00:03:57,760 point two kilos might sound small 72 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,590 You scale that across millions of websites and it starts to make a real statement 73 00:04:01,590 --> 00:04:03,720 about supporting more ethical lightweight tech 74 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,910 Wow that connection between tech choices and environmental impact. That's a great 75 00:04:07,910 --> 00:04:09,800 piece of knowledge for our listeners 76 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,280 Yeah, okay. Let's move to the second pillar, which is maybe the most critical one 77 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:13,520 today 78 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:19,280 Privacy. Mm-hmm. We're constantly hearing about GDPR CCPA all these compliance 79 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:19,800 headaches 80 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,640 This is really where plausible design choices shine. Their goal is to measure 81 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,000 aggregate traffic not individual people 82 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,360 What's the mechanism for that? 83 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:34,440 The key is that they don't use any tracking cookies at all and they never store 84 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:34,960 personal 85 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,460 Identifiers like IP addresses in their database by avoiding that kind of persistent 86 00:04:39,460 --> 00:04:40,340 identification 87 00:04:40,340 --> 00:04:43,760 They simply can't track someone across different websites or devices 88 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:44,120 Okay 89 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,750 I have to devil's advocate here for a second if they're not using cookies or IP 90 00:04:47,750 --> 00:04:50,520 addresses is the data you get still accurate 91 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,200 Is it reliable? That's a great question. And the answer is yes, absolutely 92 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:59,680 They use hashed and salted visitor identifiers that get reset every single day 93 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:04,400 So it's anonymous completely it lets them count unique visitors within a 24-hour 94 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:05,820 window correctly 95 00:05:05,820 --> 00:05:10,120 But without ever being able to tie that person to their past behavior or their 96 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:10,720 identity 97 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,940 It's a really effective compromise between measurement and ethics. So what about 98 00:05:14,940 --> 00:05:17,580 all those acronyms that scare every web developer? 99 00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:21,920 Yeah GDP are CCPA PCCR for a beginner 100 00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:26,640 What do those even mean and how does plausible deal with them? Excellent point 101 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,600 So GDPR is the big strict EU law 102 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,680 CCPA is California's version and PCR is the European directive on privacy and 103 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:35,400 communications 104 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,680 They all regulate how you have to ask for permission before you track people, right? 105 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,280 And since plausible doesn't collect personal data in the first place, they are 106 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:44,200 compliant by design 107 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,290 So the huge practical benefit for anyone using plausible is they can ditch the most 108 00:05:48,290 --> 00:05:50,720 annoying thing on the internet the cookie banner 109 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,080 Precisely no need for those complicated 110 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,310 Legalistic cookie or GDPR consent banners because you aren't collecting the data 111 00:05:57,310 --> 00:06:00,500 that needs consent to begin with you just respect privacy 112 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:03,630 Automatically and since we're on legal compliance, where is this data physically 113 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:05,620 stored? That's a huge question now 114 00:06:05,620 --> 00:06:09,600 It is for anyone using the managed plausible cloud service. All 115 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:15,350 Visitor data is processed exclusively on EU owned cloud infrastructure. Okay, the 116 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:16,160 sources are specific 117 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,800 It's often hosted on a secure encrypted server in Germany 118 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,000 And that is absolutely essential because it keeps your data under the strictest EU 119 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,120 laws and avoids all those legal nightmares with data 120 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:32,910 Transfers outside the EU that security in clear location must make things so much 121 00:06:32,910 --> 00:06:35,680 easier for small businesses. Yeah, okay 122 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,790 Let's talk power people might worry that simplicity means you can't actually 123 00:06:39,790 --> 00:06:41,520 measure if your marketing is working 124 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,590 That's the trade-off people expect but plausible handles conversions quite well. 125 00:06:46,590 --> 00:06:48,060 You can define key goals and 126 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,800 Track them using custom events. What does that mean custom events? 127 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,830 it means you can track sophisticated things like the exact revenue from an e-commerce 128 00:06:55,830 --> 00:06:56,440 sale or 129 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,550 Measure when someone clicks an outbound link to a partner or see who downloaded a 130 00:07:00,550 --> 00:07:01,400 specific file 131 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:06,320 You can even track when visitors hit a 404 error page. It sounds pretty modern, too 132 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,060 I saw they handle things the big tools can struggle with like AI traffic and 133 00:07:10,060 --> 00:07:10,820 complex apps 134 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:14,940 That's a key detail. It shows they're built for the web of today. They have 135 00:07:14,940 --> 00:07:16,920 automatic scroll depth tracking 136 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,930 Which is fantastic for content sites and they can actually segment traffic from new 137 00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:24,740 AI tools like chat GPT or perplexity 138 00:07:24,740 --> 00:07:30,540 So you can see if AI is sending you readers exactly plus they offer excellent SPA 139 00:07:30,540 --> 00:07:32,000 support. Whoa time out 140 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,060 What is SPA support in simple terms? Good catch 141 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:37,560 SPA is a single-page application 142 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,870 think of websites built with modern tools like react or view where the whole page 143 00:07:41,870 --> 00:07:44,400 doesn't reload when you click a link only parts of 144 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,440 a change right and traditional analytics often miss those internal clicks 145 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,930 Plausible make sure those are properly registered as new page views. So your data 146 00:07:52,930 --> 00:07:55,960 is actually accurate that makes the data much more reliable 147 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,880 So if someone is currently using a competitor, is it a total nightmare to switch? 148 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:00,760 Not at all 149 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,640 They know most people are coming from those other tools. So they've really focused 150 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:05,760 on a smooth migration 151 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,090 They have a real-time dashboard entry page reports and critically they integrate 152 00:08:11,090 --> 00:08:12,720 with Google search console 153 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,970 Why is that important? Because that integration lets you pull in the search 154 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:17,720 keywords people use to find you 155 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,600 Which plausible can't collect directly because of its privacy focus 156 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,090 They even let you import your historical stats from Google Analytics to keep that 157 00:08:26,090 --> 00:08:26,760 continuity 158 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:31,400 Okay, so let's say a beginner is sold. They're ready to switch. They have two main 159 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:31,840 options 160 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,480 the managed cloud service or 161 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,040 Self-hosting the open source version. This is a critical choice. Let's break them 162 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:40,120 down. Absolutely 163 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,200 Let's start with the easiest choice for I'd say the vast majority of our listeners 164 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,980 The plausible analytics cloud the managed service and who's that for? 165 00:08:48,980 --> 00:08:53,540 This is perfect for the beginner the small business owner any team that just wants 166 00:08:53,540 --> 00:08:55,800 simplicity and zero headaches with infrastructure 167 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,280 You can get started in about two minutes and plausible handles everything 168 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:04,830 Everything the server security backups maintenance a worldwide CDN for speed you 169 00:09:04,830 --> 00:09:07,200 get continuous updates and crucially 170 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,480 You get all the premium features like marketing funnels and the stats API 171 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:14,740 Plus you get support directly from the creators and this managed service is what 172 00:09:14,740 --> 00:09:17,000 actually funds the whole project correct 173 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,450 It ensures the software keeps getting developed and a key benefit of the cloud is 174 00:09:21,450 --> 00:09:23,240 its advanced bot filtering 175 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:28,160 They exclude something like thirty two thousand known data center IP ranges 176 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:29,880 Why does that matter so much? 177 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,890 Because fake bot traffic can completely skew your numbers your conversion rates and 178 00:09:34,890 --> 00:09:37,620 lead you to make really bad business decisions 179 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:43,280 The cloud gives you the purest most accurate data. Okay, so that's the simple path 180 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,840 What about the other one the plausible community edition or CE? 181 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:52,280 The self-hosted one who should pick that this is really for the advanced developer 182 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,680 a tech savvy team or maybe an organization 183 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,500 With extremely restrictive data policies. The cost saving is basically offset by 184 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:01,820 the time you'll spend managing the infrastructure 185 00:10:01,820 --> 00:10:05,680 So you're responsible for the server security uptime everything. It is a 186 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:07,520 significant ongoing commitment 187 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,990 And is there a trade-off and what the software can do there is the release schedule 188 00:10:11,990 --> 00:10:12,860 is much slower 189 00:10:12,860 --> 00:10:13,960 Maybe twice a year 190 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,410 So you don't get the latest features right away and those premium features like the 191 00:10:17,410 --> 00:10:21,200 marketing funnels or the really important stats API for using 192 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:23,200 Your data elsewhere. They're just not included 193 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,020 Support is from the community not the creators right from community forums 194 00:10:28,020 --> 00:10:32,540 But the self-hosted option does give you one ultimate power 195 00:10:32,540 --> 00:10:35,720 Raw data access. What does it actually mean? 196 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,270 It means you get full access to the raw logs directly from the click house database 197 00:10:40,270 --> 00:10:42,160 underneath for the developer 198 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,510 That means you can query manipulate and export every single piece of data. They 199 00:10:46,510 --> 00:10:49,000 record its total granular control 200 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,640 This has been an incredibly clear deep dive 201 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:57,870 It's obvious why plausible has over 15,000 paying subscribers, right their whole 202 00:10:57,870 --> 00:10:59,520 promise just resonates right now 203 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:04,340 intuitive fast ethical analytics that gets rid of the complexity and 204 00:11:04,340 --> 00:11:08,580 More importantly the surveillance and if you connect this to the bigger picture the 205 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:09,880 choice you make for your analytics 206 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,640 Really is a reflection of your values 207 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,040 How so by choosing a subscription model like for plausible you are directly 208 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:17,040 investing in the long-term 209 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,880 Sustainability of open source software and you're essentially voting with your 210 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,080 wallet against the entire business model of surveillance capitalism 211 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,330 It's a powerful decision. It really is it supports a cleaner simpler and just a 212 00:11:28,330 --> 00:11:29,660 more ethical internet a 213 00:11:29,660 --> 00:11:33,750 Fantastic thought to leave our listeners with thank you for walking us through this 214 00:11:33,750 --> 00:11:35,880 deep dive into plausible analytics 215 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,420 My pleasure and once again a huge thank you to our supporter safe server for making 216 00:11:40,420 --> 00:11:41,800 this deep dive possible 217 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,580 Safe server specializes in hosting the software and supporting your digital 218 00:11:45,580 --> 00:11:47,600 transformation. You can learn more at 219 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,060 www.safeserver.de 220 00:11:50,060 --> 00:11:54,800 We encourage you to continue your own deep dive into privacy respecting technology. 221 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:56,120 We'll see you next time