Web Data Mining

Web data mining describes the application of data mining techniques to discover patterns on the Web.  Web data mining is part of the larger world of Web mining that includes the analysis of web usage and web structure.  Web data mining concentrates on using data mining techniques with regards to content that is stored on the Web.  Web data mining can involve the discovery of useful information including text, image, audio or video data and is also often referred to as text mining because text is the most widely deployed for of content on the Web.

Benefits of Web Data Mining

Web data mining has provided a number of benefits ranging from more attractive forms of personalized marketing -resulting in increased sales - to the use of web data mining in identifying threats to in the fight against terrorism.  For businesses, web data mining allows the use of data mining techniques in order to better predict what customers may be interested in.  Using web data mining companies can better understand the needs of their customers and provide faster response times.  Through web data mining companies can provide more accurate pricing, increase response to web based offers and even identify potentially high-risk customers before they become high risk.

Drawbacks to Web Data Ming

Web data mining, however, has its detractors.  One of the most frequently cited negative aspects of web data mining is concerns over privacy.  The issue of privacy in web data mining is increased exponentially when the web data mining in question is accessing individual information without the individual's consent.  While many organizations that provide web data mining products (also known as web analytics) alleviate these concerns by analyzing, clustering and profiling individuals anonymously, the simple use of this profile information in web data mining has been a cause for concern for privacy groups.  A secondary concern of web data mining is the use of data collected on the individual for purposes for which the individual did not expressly consent or that might violate the users interests.

Web Data Mining and E-Commerce

Obviously the most broadly deployed application of web data mining is in the world of electronic commerce - specifically - shopping-cart enabled web sites.  When companies sell products on a web site it is of great economic importance to use web data mining to better understand the behavior of viewers of the web site and their response to specific techniques.  Using web data mining, web commerce companies can improve their click-rates (the rate at which particular offers are clicked on) as well as what are known as "conversion" and "drop-off" rates.  Web data mining allows companies to optimize messaging by tailoring it to the surfing habits of the actual viewer.

Web Data Mining and Off-line Data

This ability to interact intimately and immediately with web surfers, means that companies that use web data mining often have much higher conversion rates for sales on the web site than they do for other sales channels.  Web data mining allows for these higher conversion rates through the form of close coupling of user need to offer through a better understanding of their behavior.  Web data mining does have an "off-line" counterpart - through newly available tools like EMANIO's Insight! data mining application, web data mining now has low cost, easy to use counterparts that can be used to analyze off-line data to provide equal benefits to non-web sales channels that the web enjoys through web data mining.