Open STATS: In the spirit of sharing --- free business idea

[GeorgeK]

In the spirit of sharing (Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday is tomorrow, be thankful that we're all blessed), here's an idea for someone who is enterprising, and knows some PHP/XML.

Problem: Most of us here have multiple sponsors, and it's a pain to check stats regularly....multiple usernames/passwords, etc. Additionally, many of us are paranoid, and wouldn't trust a central aggregator to unify those stats.

Solution: Write a PHP script with open standards (like XML) and a simple documented interface that would allow the sponsors themselves to "push" stats to our own hosted sites, as they're produced. That script would then allow us to see total stats for all sponsors.

e.g. on my own domain, I would post the script in say:

http://example.com/stats/

I'd give a sponsor, say Adult.com, 3-things:
a) a username (e.g. adult)
b) password (abcdefgh)
c) updater url (e.g. http://example.com/stats/update.php )

Every hour (or however stats are updated by that sponsor), Adult.com would hit my server with a stats update, in a URL like:

http://example.com/stats/update.php?...ate=2005/04/30

Above URL got squished, here is it broken over several lines:

http://example.com/stats/update.php?u=adult
&p=abcdefgh&revs=1234.56&date=2005/04/30

In the above, it means that the revenues were $1234.56, and posted for the date April 30, 2004.

Earlier in the day, say at 5 am, revs might have been $225, and throughout the day, as stats update, the number would typically go up. "Final" stats for 2005/04/30 could always be posted a few days later (i.e. that's why the sponsor would pass the time as part of the string).

For added security, folks could always use SSL, i.e. https://

Other sponsors, e.g. CJ.com, Google AdSense, DomainSponsor, Linkshare, Fabulous, PartyPoker, etc. would be given their own usernames and passwords.

I could then login to http://example.com/stats/ (with my own username and password), to view unified stats:

Name Amount Last Update
------------------------------------------------------
adult.com $1,234.56 11:55 am
Google Adsense $805.31 10:47 am
Party Poker $205.00 3:00 am

If the spec and interface was simple, and enough sponsors could be brought on board, we'd all be able to see our stats in one place, securely on our own servers. Charge a low price for the script (or free, in exchange for goodwill for your firm), and don't forget who to thank for the idea later.

Sponsors also benefit, as they don't have a gazillion people hitting their servers all the time to check stats. They'd simply "push" the stats to us in a standard format, as they're available, on a regular schedule. Bandwidth to send that above URL is a lot less than having folks log in every hour or two to check stats.

The key is getting industry support behind the idea. Any sponsors here willing to "push" stats to their clients like this, given how trivial the above is to be coded into their systems? Post here, and maybe in a month or two, we'll all have a few extra hours per week on our hands, from not checking stats.

P.S. I donate the above spec to the world. You can make money off the implementation, or value-added (like putting fancy daily graphs, etc.), but the basic spec is open to all.

[Prosperous]

In the spirit of sharing

Thank you for sharing, George, that's very generous! It's a great idea, and I hope that someone with PHP/XML skills (< that's not me, unfortunately) will develop this!

Have a wonderful Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday!


Provide and Prosper,
Rob