Macromedia And Websidestory Bring Real-Time Tracking And Analysis Service to Macromedia Flash Sites
Websidestory's New Hitbox Professional Visitor Analysis Service Enables Macromedia Flash Developers to Easily Track Banner Ads, Web Sites And Applications

Monday, October 8, 2001


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SAN FRANCISCO, /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Macromedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: MACR) and WebSideStory, Inc., a leading provider of outsourced e-business intelligence services, today announced that they are providing Web developers with real-time tracking and analysis of how people interact with Web sites, online advertisements, product tours and applications built in Macromedia Flash(TM).

Macromedia Flash developers can download HitBox(R) Professional v2.0 from www.hitboxprofessional.com/macromedia. In addition to tracking interactivity with Macromedia Flash content, WebSideStory's new HitBox Professional v2.0 will also provide comprehensive, real-time analysis of Web content authored in Macromedia(R) Dreamweaver(R), or a combination of both technologies. A Macromedia Dreamweaver extension to enable Web content to be easily tracked by HitBox Professional is available immediately from the Macromedia Exchange (http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/).
With the new service, developers are not only able to track how many times Macromedia Flash content is viewed, but also analyze in real time how visitors move and interact within the content itself. Based on that feedback, developers can modify their content to deliver a better user experience and improve online campaigns. Information on how to tune Macromedia Flash content with HitBox Professional is available at the Macromedia Rich Media Advertising Resource Center ( www.macromedia.com/resources/richmedia/tracking/designers_guide uide ).

"Understanding visitor behavior is the key to better usability and successful online content," said Peter Goldie, general manager, Macromedia. "With WebSideStory's hosted tracking service, Macromedia Flash developers can now provide their management and clients with real-time information on how people are interacting with their content, so they can better understand their customers and optimize their sites. This is a great value-add service for developers."

HitBox Professional reports are delivered through a Web interface that utilizes Macromedia Flash for better interactivity and graphical representation. HitBox Professional is a completely outsourced Web-based traffic analysis service ideal for small and mid-sized businesses without significant IT resources. With the service, businesses can identify important customer patterns and trends in real-time, including where visitors come from and what paths they take through the site. There is no hardware or software to buy and no reliance on IT resources to create and archive reports. The visitor intelligence is available on demand through any Internet connection.

"With HitBox Professional, we can now easily determine how visitors were navigating our site and responding to Macromedia Flash content," said Neil Balthaser, chairman and CEO for Balthaser.com, a leading provider of next-generation, animated Web design services. "With this information so easily accessible, we can better refine our marketing strategy. We plan on offering HitBox Professional as a value-added service to our customers so that they can measure response to Web offerings."

"By enabling its developers to easily integrate with best-of-breed visitor analysis services, Macromedia has enriched its one-stop shop for Web development," said Michael Christian, senior vice president of WebSideStory, Inc. "We think this partnership will lead to even greater use of Macromedia Flash because it is now as easy to measure as HTML pages."

About Macromedia Flash

Leading customers such as Nike, MSNBC, and Virgin Records use Macromedia Flash to deliver effective Web interfaces and engaging, branded experiences online. Macromedia Flash Player is one of the most distributed pieces of software in the history of the Web. More than 97 percent of online users can immediately view Macromedia Flash content. The broad penetration of the player across all leading platforms and devices ensures that developers can create high-impact Web experiences that have an immediate potential audience of nearly every person online. For more information on authoring Macromedia Flash content, visit www.macromedia.com/flash/.

HitBox Professional

HitBox Professional is an outsourced Web site traffic analysis service for small and mid-sized businesses that don't have the IT resources to process traditional software solutions. The Web-based service is designed to help businesses maximize their online effectiveness and increase revenues by identifying important visitor patterns and trends in real-time, including where they come from and what paths they take through a site. HitBox Professional v2.0 can track visitor activity on both HTML Web sites and those created with Macromedia Flash. Pricing for the service starts at $23 per month. For more information, please visit www.hitboxprofessional.com/macromedia.

About Macromedia

Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its award-winning products empower designers and developers to efficiently create and deliver the most engaging experiences on the Web, and enable innovative Internet business applications. Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia has more than 1,500 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.

About WebSideStory

Founded in 1996, WebSideStory is the world's leading provider of outsourced e-business intelligence services. WebSideStory's best-of-breed services are designed to help businesses profit from their Internet presence by providing detailed, real-time information about online visitor behavior. Each month, the company analyzes more than 10 billion page views for its customers. For more information, contact WebSideStory, Inc. Voice: 858-546-0040. Fax: 858-546-0480. Address: 10182 Telesis Court, 6th Floor, San Diego, CA 92121. E-mail: press@websidestory.com Web: www.websidestory.com.

NOTE: Macromedia, the Macromedia logo, Flash, and Dreamweaver are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., which may be registered in the United States and internationally. Other brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of others.

WebSideStory and HitBox are registered service marks of WebSideStory, Inc. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.