Behavioral data should be free and transparent - with Yali Sassoon from Snowplow Analytics

Show Notes

What if you had created a product 10 years ago that perfectly fits into today’s world because it has all the ingredients we are looking for in data collection:
- privacy first
- data ownership & transparency
- open source

But let’s correct one thing. We are not simply talking about data collection. We speak about generating high-quality behavioral data.

And of course, we are speaking about: Snowplow.

Yali Sassoon joined me in the first episode of the “Meet the analytics stack” podcast. 

We talked about the origins of Snowplow. It was created in a world where closed and inaccessible analytics systems like Google Analytics and Omniture (now Adobe Analytics) ruled the space.
So Snowplow should be open and transparent from day 1. It started as an open-source project, and it still is until today. 

It focuses on generating high-quality behavioral data:
- with data pipelines you own and control
- data enrichments you own and control
- well defined schemas, so you only receive the data you would expect.

Snowplow had all the ingredients from day one that we are looking for today in a GDPR world where data becomes a core asset, and parts of the data stack become critical infrastructure.

Generating and collecting event data is a critical part of a data stack, so using an open-source solution here has plenty of benefits instead of a closed system. 

And if you don’t want to manage it, Snowplow is offering their behavioral data platform where they collect your Snowplow instance in your cloud project/account (yes, you are reading the right thing, in yours, not their).

Enjoy the first episode of the new podcast - Meet the analytics stack.

For upcoming episodes, follow the podcast page on LinkedIn and, most importantly, subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.

What is Meet the analytics stack?

We are talking to founders and thought leaders in the analytics space in this podcast. We learn about the motivations behind the products they offer. We discuss new topics that shape the analytics space.

These are exciting times where the data space is exploding, and so are ways to collect and analyze data.

Some years ago, it was pretty easy for most companies to decide on an analytics tool.
Either you go for an all-purpose solution like Google Analytics.
Or you need something special for your mobile app or product team, so Amplitude.
Or you just want the raw data without much effort: Segment.

Today it has become a science of its own to find the proper tracking & analytics setup. What made it so complicated?

- GDPR & Browser protection added more measures what you can track and where to store the data
- Google will sunset the old Google Analytics version, so you can only use GA4 in the future
- Plenty of more competition in each analytics category (which is a good thing)
- New categories like privacy-aware and simple analytics solutions

Deciding for a tracking and analytics stack should take a bit. It’s an essential part of your setup, so it should meet your current requirements to some degree (no one can look into the future).