Lies, Damned Lies, and Web Statistics
http://www.stc.org/confproceed/1997/PDFs/0158.PDF

Mazur, Beth
STC Proceedings
1997

Abstract:

Interpreting web statistics has been described as “trying to nail Jell-o to the wall.” Web log files trackfile accesses on the server. They do not track users; they do not track interest levels, they do not track success or failure communicating information. Caches “hide” site accesses from the server log and “hits” provide a poor mea sure of interest in particular content. Some people argue that there is really no meaning to server logs other than a measure of server load. However, even with all their flaws, some find web statistics useful in identifying how best to allocate resources in web site development.