Mining the Web: Transforming Customer Data Into Customer Value

Since I started a new project on behavioral targeting in online advertising, I decided to buy Linoff and Berry's book: Mining the Web (Transforming Customer Data into Customer Value). The book starts by briefly explaining data mining with a marketing point of view. The next chapter describes the three different approaches to mining the web: mining structure, mining usage patterns and mining content. In my case, I was mostly interested by mining usage patterns, for example web logs. The following chapters are very general and give an overview of online retailing, digital content, advertising, customer value, customer tracking, etc. One good point of the book is that it contains several short industry case studies. Although not technical, they help understand how things work in big industrial projects. To conclude, Mining the Web is an interesting introduction for people interested in applying data mining techniques to the web. Altough this book answers the "what" question, it doesn't answer the "how". Since it is a non-technical book, you will definitely need other resources for a deeper understanding of the field. The advantage is that the book is easy and pleasant to read from the beginning to the end. If you are interested by the field, you should also consult Jesus Mena's book: Data Mining Your Website (although a little older).

I found this book to be most helpful and thorough, I was immediately inspired to practice these useful tips and easy to intuit instructions. I continue to use it for reference as a resource manual. I highly encourage anyone just getting interested in the concept of data mining, anyone in sales, marketing, public relations, and analytics to start with this book first. After reading this book you will have a strong foundation into data mining applications and a vivid sense of direction on how to make it work for you personally!!!!

I own Berry and Linoff's first two books on data mining (Data Mining Techniques and Mastering Data Mining); they're the best, and this book lives up to their standards. All three are great for not just teaching the technical stuff, but how and when to apply it to solve problems I really face at my company.

We're just starting to look at mining the clickstream, and this is the first book I've found that cuts through the hype and really comes clean on what works and doesn't work. Good, solid techincal information, but better is their coverage of business issues. I love all of the detailed cases. Great job!