Visitor identification:
Visitor identification is the most important aspect of usable mobile web analytics and one of the hardest technical aspects to accomplish, primarily because JavaScript and HTTP cookies are so unreliable on mobile browsers. As a result, some mobile web analytics solutions only detect or count user visits per day. The best solutions provide reliable, persistent, and unique user identities, allowing accurate measurement of repeat visits and long-term customer loyalty.
JavaScript page tagging:
Javascript-based Page tagging notifies a third-party server when a page is rendered by a web browser. This method assumes that the end user browser has JavaScript capabilities and that JavaScript is enabled, though it is possible that neither may be true. At this time, most mobile web browsers do not support JavaScript sufficiently for this to work.
HTTP cookies:
HTTP cookies are commonly used to mark and identify visitors. Cookies are a standard capability for all desktop web browsers. With the prevalence of iPhones and Androids, HTTP cookies are now supported by most smartphones, because by default, iPhones and Android phones will accept browser cookies from web sites. As with desktop browsers, the mobile device user may choose to disable cookies.
HTTP referrer:
HTTP referrer information showing where a visitor navigated from is generally not provided for mobile web browsing. This is either because the device manufacturer has disabled sending such information in the HTTP request to save bandwidth during network usage, or because the mobile network operator's internet gateway removes or alters the original HTTP header due to the gateway software or use of mobile web transcoding software.
Image tags:
Handset caching mechanisms impact the use of images for page tagging. In some cases, image caching on handsets is performed regardless of any anti-caching headers output by the remote server.
IP address:
For desktop web browsing, the network address of the client machine usually gives some form of user identification and location. For mobile web browsing, the client IP address refers to the internet gateway machine owned by the network operator. For devices such as the BlackBerry or for phones using Opera Mini browser software, the IP address refers to an operator-owned internet gateway machine in Canada or Norway.
Visitor identification is the most important aspect of usable mobile web analytics and one of the hardest technical aspects to accomplish, primarily because JavaScript and HTTP cookies are so unreliable on mobile browsers. As a result, some mobile web analytics solutions only detect or count user visits per day. The best solutions provide reliable, persistent, and unique user identities, allowing accurate measurement of repeat visits and long-term customer loyalty.
JavaScript page tagging:
Javascript-based Page tagging notifies a third-party server when a page is rendered by a web browser. This method assumes that the end user browser has JavaScript capabilities and that JavaScript is enabled, though it is possible that neither may be true. At this time, most mobile web browsers do not support JavaScript sufficiently for this to work.
HTTP cookies:
HTTP cookies are commonly used to mark and identify visitors. Cookies are a standard capability for all desktop web browsers. With the prevalence of iPhones and Androids, HTTP cookies are now supported by most smartphones, because by default, iPhones and Android phones will accept browser cookies from web sites. As with desktop browsers, the mobile device user may choose to disable cookies.
HTTP referrer:
HTTP referrer information showing where a visitor navigated from is generally not provided for mobile web browsing. This is either because the device manufacturer has disabled sending such information in the HTTP request to save bandwidth during network usage, or because the mobile network operator's internet gateway removes or alters the original HTTP header due to the gateway software or use of mobile web transcoding software.
Image tags:
Handset caching mechanisms impact the use of images for page tagging. In some cases, image caching on handsets is performed regardless of any anti-caching headers output by the remote server.
IP address:
For desktop web browsing, the network address of the client machine usually gives some form of user identification and location. For mobile web browsing, the client IP address refers to the internet gateway machine owned by the network operator. For devices such as the BlackBerry or for phones using Opera Mini browser software, the IP address refers to an operator-owned internet gateway machine in Canada or Norway.
Reference By: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Web_Analytics#Drawbacks_of_applying_traditional_web_analytics
