Measuring and tracking RSS while a fairly simple concept, is
really anything but. Unlike websites, RSS have the added
caveat of potential syndication, making accurate tracking a
challenge to anyone but the extremely tech savvy.

It is not unrealistic for marketers to want to know how many
subscribers they have, which items in their feeds attract
the most interest, or how many click-throughs are generated
as a result of an RSS feed.

There are a number of 3rd party providers who focus on
tracking the consumption of RSS feeds. Some solutions are
rudimentary but likely sufficient for a small business
testing the waters with RSS. Other RSS tracking solutions
are more complex and while they can come close to being
accurate, with syndication there is no solution that tracks
with 100% accuracy.

Techniques Used to track RSS Consumption
Small businesses can view web logs to provide information on
how many times a specific file (RSS feed) is requested. The
logs and information is rudimentary but will give a basic
sense of a feeds success. Many 3rd party tracking options
have additional tracking information available.

Hosting
The most common method to track the number of feed accesses
or individuals accessing a feed is to use a 3rd party feed
host. Companies like FeedBurner essentially track feeds
based on accesses. The downside to using a 3rd party like
Feedburner, is that the url is a FeedBurner url and any
PageRank or popularity associated with the url will benefit
the feed host rather than the feed creator. Additionally, no
distinction is made between unique views or syndicate feeds.

FeedBurner provides a free no frills service to host RSS
feeds and they have been proactive in circumventing user
concerns. Recently implementing a service that eases users
concerns about migrating from FeedBurner. There is a 3 step
process for users interested in migrating from FeedBurner’s
free service, implementing a permanent redirect, and url
forwarding.

Details can be found at:
http://www.burningdoorc.om/feedburner/archives/001251.html

Some publishers, who were concerned about lock-in or wanted
to retain control of the domain and feed urls often resist a
hosting service. The new program FeedBurner Partner Pro is
not free, but allows for users to point to their own domain,
retaining complete control of their feeds without
sacrificing statistical tracking.

The downside to using a service like FeedBurner is that some
filtering applications used on corporate proxy servers block
feeds residing on FeedBurner or other free hosts.

Redirects
Companies like SyndicateIQ have more complex tracking
solutions that generate unique urls for each subscriber. The
tracking benefits to such a customized solution is obvious.
Individual user habits can be monitored and any users
abusing their access and inappropriately syndicating a feeds
content can have their feed turned off. The downside of
course is that the success of RSS is in a large part due to
the anonymity. Users don’t want their personal habits
tracked.

Considering the venture capital interest in these 3rd party
hosting services. It is important to note that their value
is in the data that they collect. As with any 3rd party
service, it goes without saying that publishers should read
the privacy policy carefully, be aware of who owns the
rights to the collected information, and how that
information might be used. It goes without saying that the
value in many of the free services currently available lies
in their aggregate data.

Uniquely Named Transparent Images
Uniquely named transparent 1×1 graphics can be added to the
description field of an RSS feed. Users can use standard web
logs to see the number of times the image is viewed and
determine the number of times the feed was accessed.

Companies Specializing in Tracking and RSS Metrics

Pheedo – Pheedo creates tools that enable individuals,
organizations and corporations to promote, analyze, and
optimize their weblogs and content.
http://www.pheedo.com

SyndicateIQ – SyndicateIQ’s position in the content
distribution chain provides clients a set of analytics.
http://www.syndicateiq.com/

FeedBurner – FeedBurner offers a full range of services to
help you build awareness, track circulation, and implement
revenue-generating programs in your feed(s).
http://www.feedburner.com

Each individual using RSS needs to make a decision of the
extent and importance of the analytics they require.
Realizing that any system they employ is not going to be
perfect.