What is Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyze the traffic on our website. In order for Google Analytics to work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions that you carry out on our website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics server and stored there.
Google processes the data and we receive reports on your user behavior. These reports can include the following:

  1. Target group reports: With target group reports, we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
  2. Ad reports: Ad reports make it easier for us to analyze and improve our online advertising.
  3. Acquisition Reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how we can get more people excited about our service.
  4. Behavioral Reports: This is where we learn how you interact with our website. We can understand which route you take on our site and which links you click.
  5. Conversion reports: Conversion is a process in which you carry out a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a pure website visitor to being a buyer or newsletter subscriber. With the help of these reports, we can find out more about how our marketing measures are received by you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
  6. Real-time reports: Here we always find out immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

Our goal with this website is clear: We want to offer you the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us to achieve this goal.

The statistically evaluated data show us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that interested people can find it more easily on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We therefore know very well what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also help us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures more individually and cost-effectively. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested.

Which data is saved by Google Analytics?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is saved together with this user ID. This is the only way to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.

Tags such as cookies and app instance IDs measure your interactions on our website. Interactions are all types of actions that you carry out on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated by Google Analytics can be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not pass on any Google Analytics data unless we as the website operator approve it. Exceptions may be made if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Surname:_ga
Value:2.1326744211.152311238649-5
Usage:By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to save the user ID. Basically, it is used to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry Date:after 2 years

Surname:_gid
Value:2.1687193234.152311238649-1
Usage:The cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry Date:after 24 hours

Surname:_gat_gtag_UA_< property-id >
Value:1
Usage:Used to lower the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via the Google Tag Manager, this cookie is given the name _dc_gtm_
Expiry Date:after 1 minute

Surname:AMP_TOKEN
Value:not specified
Usage:The cookie has a token with which a user ID can be obtained from the AMP client ID service. Other possible values indicate a logout, a request, or an error.
Expiry Date:after 30 seconds up to a year

Surname:__utma
Value:1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Usage:This cookie can be used to track your behavior on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date:after 2 years

Surname:__utmt
Value:1
Usage:The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_ to throttle the request rate.
Expiry Date:after 10 minutes

Surname:__utmb
Value:3.10.1564498958
Usage:This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated every time new data or information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date:after 30 minutes
Surname:__utmc
Value:167421564
Usage:This cookie is used to set new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and it is only saved until you close the browser again.
Expiry Date:After closing the browser

Surname:__utmz
Value:m | utmccn = (referral) | utmcmd = referral | utmcct =/
Usage:The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie saves where you came to our website from. That could have been another page or an advertisement.
Expiry Date:after 6 months

Surname:__utmv
Value:no information
Usage:The cookie is used to save custom user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date:after 2 years

Annotation: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google keeps changing the selection of its cookies.

Here we show you an overview of the most important data that is collected with Google Analytics:

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heat maps. Heatmaps show exactly those areas that you click on. That way we get information about where you are on our site.

Session duration: Google defines session duration as the time that you spend on our site without leaving the site. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

Bounce rateBounce rate: We are talking about a jump if you only view one page on our website and then exit our website again.

Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.

IP address:The IP address is only shown in abbreviated form so that it cannot be clearly assigned.

Location: The country and your approximate location can be determined via the IP address. This process is also known as IP location determination.

Technical information: The technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your Internet provider or your screen resolution.

Source of origin: Google Analytics or us, of course, are also interested in which website or which advertising you came to our site.

Further data are contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding it to your favorites. The list does not claim to be complete and only serves as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed it servers all over the world. Most of the servers are located in the United States and consequently your data is mostly stored on American servers. Here you can read exactly where the Google data centers are located:https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed on various physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Every Google data center has appropriate emergency programs for your data. If, for example, the hardware at Google fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low.

A standard retention period for your user data of 26 months is set for Google Analytics. Then your user data will be deleted. However, we have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. We are deleting your user data after 14 months.

When the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data, which is linked to cookies, user identification and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a merging of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

According to the data protection law of the European Union, you have the right to receive information about your data, to update it, to delete it or to restrict it. With the help of the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js), you prevent Google Analytics from using your data. You can download the browser add-on under https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de download and install. Please note that this add-on only deactivates data collection by Google Analytics.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies (independent of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser:

  1. Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
  2. Safari: manage cookies and website data with Safari
  3. Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer
  4. Internet Explorer: deleting and managing cookies
  5. Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies
Google Analytics is an active participant in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at Privacy Shield Framework.

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

Google Analytics IP anonymization

We have implemented the IP address anonymization of Google Analytics on this website. This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of the local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the full IP address. The anonymization or masking of the IP takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is stored or processed.

You can find more information on IP anonymization at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.

Google Analytics reports on demographics and interests

We have switched on the functions for advertising reports in Google Analytics. The demographics and interests reports include age, gender and interests. This enables us – without being able to assign this data to individual persons – to get a better picture of our users. You can find out more about the advertising functions on https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can use the activities and information of your Google account under “Settings for advertising” https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated end with the checkbox.

Google Analytics deactivation link

If you click on the following deactivation link, you can prevent Google from recording further visits to this website. Warning: The deletion of cookies, the use of the incognito / private mode of your browser, or the use of another browser will result in data being collected again. Deactivate Google Analytics: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en

Google Analytics add-on for data processing

We have concluded a direct customer contract with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the “data processing addendum” in Google Analytics. You can find out more about the addition on data processing for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=de&utm_id=ad

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

We have activated the Google signals in Google Analytics. The existing Google Analytics functions (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reports and reports on interests and demographic characteristics) are updated to receive summarized and anonymized data from you, provided that you have allowed personalized ads in your Google account.

The special thing about it is that it is a cross-device tracking. That means your data can be analyzed across all devices. By activating Google signals, data is recorded and linked to the Google account. This enables Google to recognize, for example, when you are viewing a product on our website using a smartphone and only later buy the product using a laptop. Thanks to the activation of Google signals, we can start cross-device remarketing campaigns that would otherwise not be possible in this form. Remarketing means that we can also show you our offer on other websites.

In Google Analytics, additional visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history and data about your actions on our website are recorded by the Google signals. This gives us better advertising reports and more useful information about your interests and demographic characteristics from Google. This includes your age, what language you speak, where you live or what gender you belong to. There are also social criteria such as your job, your marital status or your income. All of these features help Google Analytics to define groups of people or target groups.

The reports also help us to better assess your behaviour, your wishes and interests. This enables us to optimize and adapt our services and products for you. By default, this data expires after 26 months. Please note that this data collection only takes place if you have allowed personalized advertising in your Google account. It is always aggregated and anonymous data and never individual data. You can manage or delete this data in your Google account.
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