Google Analytics DOES NOT Track Radio Listeners

Google Analytics does a great job at analyzing data for website stats. However Google Analytics tracks only their own Google search engine results which does not include Bing, Yahoo, Alexa or other search engine data statistics. They also do not, and most times, cannot track a streaming media listening audience.

Here's why...Listener numbers come from an audio streaming server. This audio server is not a webpage on a website but actually a separate data stream, usually housed on a separate server from the radio stations website server.  It is linked ON a website page but as in the case of HealthyLife.net Radio the radio button link is on almost every page of our 60+ page website and not on just on one Landing page.

Google Analytics CAN track how many people come to a website page that contains a link to the audio stream but unfortunately that is not always the actual listener data. Actual listener data can only come from the audio server stream data.  

HealthyLife.net also has 62+ syndicators/simulcast distribution channels that pick up our LIVE audio stream and rebroadcast it out to their many listeners - but to our audio search engine each one looks like just one listener. In reality these 62 distribution channels could be accessing 100s, 1,000s or 1,000,000 more listeners a day per channel.  Think the numbers are high? Here's an example - Microsoft's Radio Tuner, which HealthyLife.net is 1 of 68 talk radio stations is available to 1 billion worldwide internet devices a day. 1% of listenership would provide HealthyLife.net with 1 million more listeners a day but again to our streaming server they look like only 1 listener.

Podcast and on-demand listening all have different criteria that is tracked differently in an audio streaming server.  Again website hit analysis is not the same  as tracking websites so unfortunately using Google Analytics to rate Listener Audience size is not a valid measurement.