Why do pageviews differ between platforms?

Why do pageviews differ in different platforms? E.g., Google Analytics may report 10,000 pageviews, whereas Live's count might be 2,000 for the same time period.

 

Differences in analytics reports from company to company is a common occurrence.  While there are strong similarities in what they track (metrics), they usually vary on how they track them.

Some variables contributing to these differences are:

  • Session definition; is it 30min or 24hrs?
  • How they define a pageview
  • How return visitors are calculated

Here at Live we define a pageview as a piece of content viewed during a selected time period.

Pageviews are just one of many metrics that are calculated by Live Analytics, visit these FAQ articles for more definitions: