Where Have You Been? A Comparison of Three Web Tracking Technologies

Abstract

Web searching and browsing can be improved if browsers and search engines know which pages users frequently visit. 'Web tracking' is the process of gathering that information. The goal for Web tracking is to obtain a database describing Web page download times and users' page traversal patterns. The database can then be used for data mining or for suggesting popular or relevant pages to other users. We implemented three Web tracking systems, and compared their performance. In the first system, rather than connecting directly to Web sites, a client issues URL requests to a proxy. The proxy connects to the remote server and returns the data to the client, keeping a log of all transactions. The second system uses "sniffers" to log all HTTP traffic on a subnet. The third system periodically collects browser log files and sends them to a central repository for processing. Each of the systems differs in its advantages and pitfalls. We present a comparison of these techniques.