[theme-reviewers] Google Analytics Campaign Tracking Code OK on Author & Theme URI?

Wed Jan 11 01:33:53 UTC 2012

Wow. Great discussion...

I know this is splitting hairs, but it should be asked… Would the snippets of GA campaign tracking code themselves be considered GPL compatible? The Theme Review Licensing section <http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review#Licensing> is pretty clear:

"Themes are required to be 100% GPL-licensed, or use a GPL-compatible license. This includes all PHP, HTML, CSS, images, fonts, icons, and everything else. All of the theme must be GPL-Compatible."

Section 4 of the Google Analytics TOS clearly makes it NOT GPL compatible. <http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/tos.html>

I would also point out this clause from that section:

"Google hereby grants You a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license to install, copy and use the UTM solely as necessary to use the Service for one or more web pages that You own and control (collectively, the "Website")."

Technically, campaign tracking code would be installed on sites not controlled by GA account holder.

And ultimately, I think this just kind of goes against the "spirit" of the themes repository as a whole. So, based on how I read above, and wanting to keep the "spirit" as it is, I am inclined to not approve the theme -- unless a REALLY good argument convinces me otherwise.

Thanks all for your input.

Victor -- before resubmitting the theme, let me make some other comments in the ticket so you don't have to expend any extra efforts.

--Jim

On Jan 10, 2012, at 4:50 PM, Emil Uzelac wrote:

> Technically there's nothing wrong with campaign tracking URL, however I don't think that this is appropriate for Theme/Author URL that's all. It would be nice to track how world uses our Themes but that's not what repository can offer you. GA in general is not accepted in any form or shape, not really sure what else you can do to fulfill this Victor.
> 
> Emil
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 6:30 PM, Victor Tihai <victor at tihai.md> wrote:
> Just for information  http://goo.gl/K6scD 
> 
> Regards
> Victor
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 02:09, Edward Caissie <edward.caissie at gmail.com> wrote:
> As an "off-by-default option" for the end-user to accept is the only way I would consider this (this still does not mean I would approve it, but I would at least consider it further) ... as well as including a clear simple language explanation to the end-user on why they are being asked to allow their online activity to be tracked by the theme author.
> 
> 
> Cais.
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 6:54 PM, Victor Tihai <victor at tihai.md> wrote:
> Regardless if there is or not the Campaign Tracking, the information about who clicked and visited the site you can find in Google Analitycs Traffic Sources --> Sources --> Referrals.
> 
> Campaign Tracking permit to group all referrals (you can find this in Analitycs  Traffic Sources --> Sources --> Campaings). This gives the possibility to make comparation between two or many themes, and this is very important for the authors.
> 
> The code from the url doesn't collect the information about the users who installed the theme or the users who have visited the blog with this theme activated.
> 
> You need to make difference between Campaign Tracking and Tracking Code because thereare not the some things.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Victor
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 00:46, Angelo Bertolli <angelo.bertolli at gmail.com> wrote:
> Google's TOS states:
> 
> "If You use the Service on behalf of any Third Party, You represent and
> warrant that (a) You are authorized to act on behalf of, and bind to
> this Agreement, that Third Party , (b) as between the Third Party and
> You, the Third Party owns any rights to Customer Data in the applicable
> account, and (c) You shall not disclose Third Party's Customer Data to
> any other party without the Third Party's consent."
> 
> and continues on from there.  Sounds questionable.
> 
> On 01/10/2012 05:34 PM, James Laws wrote:
> > I can understand the reason for wanting to track this kind of thing but
> > I personally don't like the idea of theme authors tracking this data. I
> > may be off base but if I were reviewing a theme with this kind of thing
> > I wouldn't approve it.
> >
> > On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, Robert Ambartsumov <robert6292 at gmail.com
> > <mailto:robert6292 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >> Well, why you have to have a tracking on the front end anyway? you
> > could insert a tracking in the back end and this way you will know when
> > the theme is activated the tracking is fired.
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 12:16 AM, Valeriu Tihai <valeriu at tihai.md
> > <mailto:valeriu at tihai.md>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hello everyone,
> >> I'm the one who introduced campaign tracking code (Google Analytics).
> >> Before I done this I have read several times Credit
> > Links http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review#Credit_Links
> >> I searched in this list if there have been previous discussion of such
> > kind: http://bit.ly/xkzi59 http://bit.ly/zk7i23
> >> I did not found that it is forbidden, so it is allowed.
> >> The aim is not tracking visitors from wordpress.org
> > <http://wordpress.org>, I agree with Emil Uzelac that there are other
> > ways to do this thing.
> >> Instead I want to have a tracking campaign of the theme that will be
> > installed on different blogs, and for this I need that the link from
> > footer also to contain variables of the GA.
> >> But there is a problem ( Credit link, if used, is required to use
> > either Theme URI or Author URI. ) that obliges me to put the same link
> > also in style.css
> >> If it is possible that credit link to contain variables GA and links
> > for Theme Author and Author URI to be without these variables, so I am
> > only for this solution, I can immediately prepare a new version that
> > will contain these changes.
> >> ------------------------------------
> >> Valeriu Tihai
> >> http://wplook.com
> >> http://valeriu.tihai.md
> >> http://twitter.com/valeriu
> >> http://www.facebook.com/valeriu
> >> ------------------------------------
> >> Please consider the environment - only print this email if absolutely
> > necessary!
> >>
> >> Curent Projects:
> >>
> >> http://wplook.com
> >> www.strocrental.com <http://www.strocrental.com> - (offline)
> >> www.bestcashcow.com <http://www.bestcashcow.com>
> >>
> >> Launched Projects:
> >>
> >> m.moldova.org <http://m.moldova.org> - accessible from mobile
> >> www.ahram-tobacco.com <http://www.ahram-tobacco.com>
> >
> >
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