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The term analytics (as in Google Analytics, etc.) isn't a well-defined term but it’s understood especially in the context of web and technology.

Translating the term to German yields things like Analyse and Analytik, which even to a native speaker lose most of the implicit connotation to tracking user behavior. Dict.cc also suggests Web-Controlling which is essentially replacing one English term with another one.

So what would be the most equivalent word for analytics in German?

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Well analyse per se is not really specific. Of course, German offers you the possibility to create a compound word for a more accurate description. Since you mentioned tracking user behaviour, I'd go with

Benutzerverhaltensanalyse

Verhaltensanalyse alone is already a common term to describe the behavioural analysis. Combining this with Benutzer (user) annotates the specific group whose behaviour you want to analyse.

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    Verhaltensanalyse is not what OP was looking for. Analytics is far more specific.
    – bukwyrm
    Mar 4, 2019 at 14:18
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    @bukwyrm "Analytics" is "far more specific" than "analysis of user behavior"? Certainly not. It is something different: The tools of analysis as opposed to the analysis itself, not only targeting users but e.g. the website as well. But already the second example in M-W's entry is doubtful: "Louisville and others will benefit from a data analytics program that can calculate which doctors are prescribing the most pain pills". Isn't that an analysis program? Doesn't sound as fancy... Excel could do it.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 7:11
  • Verhaltensanalyse covers a wide swath of possible subjects, of which Analytics could be one. That one could well do Analytics with Excel (and some do) is immaterial.
    – bukwyrm
    Mar 5, 2019 at 7:18
  • @bukwyrm Sorry, calling "analytics" specific is just wrong. Plain "analysis" is already a meta term (a procedure that can be applied to arbitrary phenomena), and "analytics" is meta-meta because it means unspecified tools to perform arbitrary analyses of arbitrary subjects. Only the "web" context gives us a hint what it is all about at all. Sure, "Verhaltensanalyse" can mean different things in different contexts as well, but far more subject-bound. If we grant it the benefit of the same context we apply to "analytics" it's clearly more specific -- perhaps too specfic.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 12:58
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    @bukwyrm What makes you assume that " 'Analytics' is web-analytics by default"? See M-W: "First Known Use of analytics circa 1590". That's perhaps spider-web analytics by default ;-).
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:54
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I recommend using Webanalyse or Web-Analyse. This is commonly used and in my opinion represents best what Analytics means.

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    Wikipedia offers a few alternatives: Web Analytics (auch Clickstream-Analyse, Datenverkehrsanalyse, Traffic-Analyse, Web-Analyse, Web-Controlling, Webtracking)
    – bukwyrm
    Mar 4, 2019 at 14:20
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Looking for a proper (whatever that shall mean) German word for Analytics is ignoring the reality of spoken language: Some loan words cannot fully be translated, since part of the meaning is transported by the mere fact that a loan word is used: The loan word is marking the social and pragmatic context.

Due to American cultural dominance in that field, internet technology is full of english words. Translating them into German would erase the domain of internet from their meaning: You would not expect a word like Nutzungsbetrachtung, Nutzerverfolgung or Nutzeranalyse to be used in the semantic field of internet, and so you would probably not understand it, even if any of those words was a perfect literal translation of Analytics (which none of them is, by the way).

The proper German word for Analytics is Analytics.

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    Thank you for (at least) considering Nutzungsbetrachtung, even though ex negativo. It is, still, the first use of that word outside its original egg shell, and I am looking positively forward to seeing it eventually fly.
    – Christian Geiselmann
    Mar 5, 2019 at 15:41
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    WOT? "The history of German language is full of" thousands of successful attempts to do that! You might scoff at an author creating Nutzungsbetrachtung, now. But how would you have reacted to Luther? You either phrase this quite unluckily (and lead me to misunderstanding), or you are completely wrong on this. Und zwar mit aemulatio ignis, oder doch besser Feuereifer?
    – LаngLаngС
    Mar 5, 2019 at 16:02
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    @jonathan.scholbach I never would. You are the involuntary godfather of my new word's future success. I owe you much.
    – Christian Geiselmann
    Mar 5, 2019 at 16:06
  • Die Umwelt der Schreckensherrschaft war der Terror des Mileus, schreibe ich mal so vom Okzident ins Abendland. Aber meine superstitio in Lehnübertragungen ist auch nur Aberglaube, der in Christians Ansatz weniger eine avant garde als eine Vorhut sieht. Ist ein homme d'affaire denn nicht Geschäftsmann geworden, der seinen parapluie weder gegen einen umbrella noch eine Regenschirm tauscht? Solche Wörter kommen und gehen, aber Nuancen und Feinheiten dieser Kleinodien fehlen manchmal wie automobile im Kraftwagen? So wandelt sich exemplum zum Beispiel.
    – LаngLаngС
    Mar 5, 2019 at 17:00
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    @LangLangC OK, du hast mich überzeugt. Ich muss das zurücknehmen und schwächer formulieren. Mein Eindruck stammte von einem Wörterbuch aus der Mitte des 19 Jhds, das solche Empfehlungen abgegen hatte, wie Christian Geiselmann es hier tut. Da waren alle Alternativen ziemlicher Unfug und wurden auch wirklich nicht übernommen. Aber die Generalsaussage, die ich hier getroffen habe, ist falsch. Danke für die Kritik!
    – Jonathan Scholbach ♦
    Mar 5, 2019 at 19:38
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The term analytics (as in Google Analytics, etc.) isn't a well-defined term but it’s understood especially in the context of web and technology.

You're starting your question with a false premise. I'm working in the data science field and here "analytics" is not at all commonly referring to user behaviour. That's only a part of it. You should use "web analytics" to make it clear for a broader audience.

Translating the term to German yields things like Analyse and Analytik, which even to a native speaker lose most of the implicit connotation to tracking user behavior.

When translating IT terms many words lose their IT context. For example we say "Big Data" for the specific technology not "große Daten(mengen)". Other examples without German equivalent are "Machine Learning" or "Overfitting". While you could translate them literally, nobody would understand what you're talking about.

Thus I recommend to stick to the English term.

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Q The term analytics (as in Google Analytics, etc.) isn't a well-defined term but it’s understood especially in the context of web and technology.

This description is only partially correct. The term 'analytics' itself might be understood 'well' and 'widely', even in tech-circles, but the negative aspects inherent to the application of this technology or often not, and not even in tech circles.

Analyse f. ‘Auflösung, Zergliederung, Untersuchung’,

and the derivative of the equally Greek to me Analytik might be seen as expressing the desire to systematically collect, describe and understand data.

But for the intent of expressing the less desirable consequences attached to it, a trade name like Google-Analytics has to be seen as a euphemism.

To avoid or even counteract the euphemistic part, you might have to choose a word that better encompasses those parts of the possible meanings you think important:

Spähsoftware, Nutzerverhaltensspeicherungsverfahren, Überwachungssoftware come to mind, but Wikipedia seems to prefer

Nutzerverfolgung

as the most general term.

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As I said in a comment, Merriam-Webster suggests that analytics is the method of analysis. That's why I would suggest that analytics is Google's term for their analysis tools, or Analysewerkzeuge. Of course the usual focus is on users because websites are used to interact with them. But I would be surprised if analytics didn't also provide ways to measure the technical aspects of a website, like retrieval times, time to page complete, server load etc. But it was hard to find out what analytics specifically offers. See my rant below which is quite on topic here because it is about web user experience, and language in the context of advertising marketing.

<rant> I just spent 10 minutes of my life trying to find out what specific functionality analytics provides. I started by googling "google analytics". The featured first hit first asks me to sign into google (!? why?) and then gets me to a page with minimal text and three icons. The first icon asks me to sign up for analytics. (Sorry, what?? Ah, that's why the wanted me to log in!) That's after just three words of explanation, "Analyze your site's traffic", in a headline. OK, so I click "Analytics home" at the bottom. There's a page consisting of — headlines above paragraphs of literally a single sentence each. Money quote: "Build a complete picture". You wish! Big emphasis is on the integration with the other google services and tools. Ah, on the bottom of this page full of fluff is a section "Resources" with a link to "product overview analytics". The click on "Read more" leads to another picture-heavy page with not much text, and all of it fluff. Money quote: "With Google Analytics, you can uncover the insights that drive real results." No shit, Sherlock! I feel like conversing with a Flat Earther for an hour or two: It's exhausting because you try to take them seriously but that brings you down to their level; it drains your intellectual capacity. I stop my research here, not least because I fear for my sanity. It's all advertising, no hard facts whatsoever.

Actually, I'm being unfair to that conversation partner, provided they act in good faith: Because google has an obvious agenda. They want to get a foot in the door of your website; they want your data. They aren't even hiding it. They aren't even telling you what they'll do on your site. I almost feel I should give up from exhaustion and just sign up so that they finally tell me.

Angesichts dieser Erfahrung könnte man "Google Analytics" auch einfach mit

Werbe-Kraken-Daten-Haken

übersetzen.</rant>

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    You should probably remove the rant part, as it is not related to the language question asked. The whole point of all analytics is to get hold of user data. In doing so there is no essential difference between Google, Facebook, Amazon, or whoever.
    – Takkat
    Mar 5, 2019 at 8:06
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    @Takkat The rant is important because it shows that it is hard to find out what analytics does, beyond "uncover the insights that drive real results". (That phrase literally makes me sick in my stomach.) Since the proper term (in German or any language) hopefully heavily depends on what anaytics really is and does, that experience is entirely on topic in order to find a good German word for it. Like Werbe-Daten-Kraken-Haken. (And yes of course, that term is entirely applicable to the analysis tools of other web companies as well.)
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 9:39
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    The rant would of course be needed if we had been asked for a derogatory term but the question reads different. It would be answered nicely in your first paragraph but not in your second.
    – Takkat
    Mar 5, 2019 at 9:50
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You can use Nutzeranalyse ('analytics' regarding the user/-s) or Nutzungsanalyse ('analytics' regarding the use), equally valid are Benutzeranalyse and Benutzungsanalyse (with the same implied specifics)

For both, use is often interchangeable, as the meanings largely overlap.

https://saar.infowiss.net/projekte/ident/themen/benutz_forsch/kap1/

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  • The same terms could conceivably used in English as well ("use[r] analysis"). Not least "analytics" is a term that is used rather incorrectly in an attempt to sound more important; much like "methodology" instead of method, or "technology" instead of technique. Or "analogy" instead of... ah well.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:01
  • @PeterA.Schneider Is this a criticismy :-) of my translation? I just wanted to convey that both terms (and their Be-prefix twins) refine 'analytics in a specific direction. I'll rephrase.
    – bukwyrm
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:21
  • No, on the contrary: Analyse is better, and analysis would be better in English as well.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:31
  • @PeterA.Schneider Ah, fundamental criticism. Well, we are d'accord on that front.
    – bukwyrm
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:33
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Nach Lektüre der allesamt klugen bisherigen Beiträge und angesichts des daraus erhellenden Mangels eines eigentlichen deutschen Worts für user analytics (speziell im Kontext des Web-Publizierens) schlage ich hiermit vor:

Nutzungsbetrachtung

Ich weiß, das Wort ist neu. Aber jedes Wort war einmal neu, und auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen.

Hier meine Gründe für genau diese Wahl:

Nutzung, nicht Nutzer: Es geht nicht um die Nutzer; es geht um die Art, wie die Nutzer die Website nutzen. Im Zentrum steht also die Nutzung.

Betrachtung: Ich denke, das ist ein gutes Wort für Analyse. Man könnte auch Untersuchung sagen, aber Nutzungsuntersuchung ist mit seinen vielen u schon etwas eintönig (und man kriegt beim Sprechen einen Krampf in den Lippen). Betrachtung bringt mehr Abwechslung bei den Vokalen. Betrachtung sei hier verstanden als die sehr genaue (eben: analytische) Form des Hinsehens.

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    Es bringt, denke ich, eher wenig, hier Neologismen vorzuschlagen. Wir sollten hier Empfehlungen geben, und nicht versuchen, die Sprache zu verändern. Dazu haben wir nämlich viel zu wenig Einfluss, und wir sollten gar nicht erst die Illusion erwecken. Das Feld ist so von Anglizismen geprägt - auch weil viele Internet-Firmen international besetzt sind - dass es die Realität der gesprochenen Sprache hart ignoriert, wenn man versucht, diese durch hausgemachte Neuschöpfungen zu ersetzen. Daher gebe ich hier -1
    – Jonathan Scholbach ♦
    Mar 4, 2019 at 22:36
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    @jonathan.scholbach Ach was, immer her mit den neuen Wörtern! Und: Du ignorierst doch hier hart die Realität von Christian's gesprochener (naja, geschriebener) Sprache. (Nur am Rande: Allgemein gesprochen denke ich, dass die Welt ein besserer Ort wäre, wenn sich vor dreißig Jahren alle auf Englisch und 7-Bit-ASCII geeinigt hätten. Ohne Scheiß. Aber ob sie auch ein schönerer Ort wäre?)
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 7:47
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    @PeterA.Schneider Ich habe gar nichts gegen neue Wörter. Aber das hier ist ein Forum, in dem wir Leuten helfen wollen, Sprache zu verwenden. Und da ist das eben fehl am Platze, weil es niemandem weiterhilft, wenn man dieses Wort verwendet.
    – Jonathan Scholbach ♦
    Mar 5, 2019 at 8:19
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    @jonathan.scholbach Wir hätten keinen Einfluss auf den Sprachwandel? Wer sonst, wenn nicht wir, die Sprecher? Warte nur, du Zauderseele, bis sich meine schöne Nutzungsbetrachtung erst durchgesetzt hat! (Recht hast du natürich damit, dass Neuschöpfungen dem Frager mit seiner ursprünglichen Intention nicht weiterhelfen.)
    – Christian Geiselmann
    Mar 5, 2019 at 11:52
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    Ich sehe das wie @jonathan.scholbach. Ich sehe zusätzlich aber auch nicht die Notwendigkeit, Analyse durch Betrachtung zu ersetzen. Analyse drückt meiner Meinung nach eine tiefergehende Betrachtung als, als eine normale Betrachtung. Über Sprachästhetik (Vokalverteilung) würde ich hier gar nicht diskutieren. PS: Im Deutschen wird in den meisten Fällen kein Apostroph zur Genitivbildung benötigt.
    – infinitezero
    Mar 5, 2019 at 13:52

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