is counter event and metric instances same?

[aagk123]

is counter event and metric instances same?

[jeff_bloomer]

@aagk123 

I am going to answer you with one of my favorite posts by Adam Greco, but the simple answer is: NO.
https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2009/04/19/instances-inside-omniture-sitecatalyst#gs.2uwzac 

[Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted solution]

To add some additional context... are they the same thing... No 

Can you use Instance of X in place of setting up a custom metric - in most cases Yes

While the blog post does help to explain the differences, many of the issues that used to exist when trying to use Instance no longer apply... Unlike the old Reports, "Instance of " counters are valid metrics that we can use...(and I use them all the time)

In my own implementation, I have a Custom Metric for "Menu Interactions", If I look at this data side by side with "Custom Link Instance" (filtered for items that contain "menu" as per my naming conventions) they are an exact match.

In many cases now, I am using the Instance metrics (for less important items - I still make proper named counters for key items) rather than custom metrics.

Now, that said, Instance Metrics can be tricky when dealing with s.products for instance.. since you could have multiple products, and you want each to count... but an instance of wouldn't count against each product, but as a whole... so using Instances here wouldn't be a good match.

So while it's good to be aware of the limitations that instance of used to have, we also need to be free to move forward and use data that is available to us out of the box... 

[Jennifer_Dungan]

One more thing I should mention... on your eVars... Instance of is a bit different...

Let's say you are tracking a campaign, and you store it in eVar1 (with a visit level attribution). This will be tracked on the first page, then carried through on other pages through attribution.

When you build a report like this:

                      Page Views                  Instance of eVar1

eVar1             100                               20

The "Instance Of" is the instance where the eVar was set (i.e. on the first page that actually contained the campaign), the page views represent all the pages (including the first one) that have the campaign value set (either directly or through attribution)

This distinction is important.. I use the Instance of to find people coming to the page via the campaign, then I use Page View / Instance to get a average pages viewed coming from the campaign.

[aagk123]

I guess when you say custom metric you refer to counter event and not event that stores currency or numbers?

Also I am planning to use instances for just simple click link name and based on your explanation I guess instances must be enough. 

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Yes, since you yourself mentioned "Counter" events, I was focusing the conversation on those... of course, you are correct, there are other types of events, such as Numeric or Currency (where you can pass specific incremental values)

For anyone who comes across this post...

let's add a simple comparison of those events

On a call 1:
s.eVar1 = "something";
s.events = "event1,event2=5,event3=9.99";

On a call 2:
s.eVar1 = "something else";
s.events = "event1,event2=5,event3=9.99";

	Instance of eVar1	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3
eVar1	2	2	10	19.98
something	1	1	5	9.99
something else	1	1	5	9.99

[aagk123]

Please change s.eVar1 in call 2 as something else.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Oops.. copy and paste issue.. fixed

[aagk123]

But why is the occurrences different here when the visits and pageviews are same in both prop and evar?

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Because occurrence also includes all actions/clicks (also your Pave Views are 1 off... 13 vs 14)

So let's say you have:

1. Page View 1 - set eVar1 and prop1 to "value 1"
   
   • Both have a value set and count against page view and occurrence... only the eVar will also count into a specific "Instance of eVar1" metric
2. Click on button (that also fires an s.tl() call) 
   • "value 1" due to expiry on your eVar is maintained... the prop is not
   • this doesn't trigger a page view, but it does trigger an occurrence
   • only the eVar here tracks a value (since prop is definitely a hit level, and in this case, your eVar is likely a visit level
   • If you were to look at the actual "Instance of eVar1", it will not count here, unless it is explicitly set on this action
3. Page View 2 - set eVar1 again to "value 1"
   • Once again, both values have a value set, and both count against the page view and the occurrence.. again, only the eVar will count in "Instance of eVar1"
4. Page View 3 - neither eVar nor Prop is set
   1. The eVar will count a Page View and Occurrence.. "Instance of eVar1" will not count here

When an eVar is set to "Visit" level expiry; every single hit - page view s.t() and action s.tl() - will count the value as being set until the end of the Visit (or until a new value is set into your eVar)...

Only the page view calls s.t() will count against the Page View metric... both s.t() and s.tl() calls will count against the Occurrence metric....  the Instance of eVar1 metric will only count the instances where the eVar was explicitly set. 

If you don't need the value of your eVar to be maintained on all subsequent hits, then you can change the expiry to "Hit" level so that it acts like a Prop... only setting the value where it is set.

[jeff_bloomer]

@aagk123 - I will counter @Jennifer_Dungan's reply with just one point, and she does make a good argument with everything else.  I will say that if you want an accurate count for ANYTHING, then a success event associated with your conversion variable is always the best way to implement things.  However, if that is now how things were initially done, then Instances may be your fallback. 

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Since all my instances and custom events match 100%, I have no concerns at all with the accuracy of my instances...     But as I said, all my important things, I use custom metrics.. but that is also so people who are building their own reports don't have to learn about how Instances work.. they can just use the "easy" pre-made counters

[jeff_bloomer]

LOL!  The fact that I got such a detailed answer out of you is awesome.  Instances just bother me so much, but I see why many people use them.  I've just been burned enough that I tend to mistrust them.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Well back in the old Reports.. yeah.. Instances were a mess... I never used them until Workspace (after a lot of comparative tests... metric vs instance)