StoryMaps view counts

Question

Hi everybody, sorry for the possible repetition but I am bit a confused about how the StoryMaps views are counted. I read this post and I would like a confirmation that "the number of views that ArcGIS records on a StoryMap's item page is the number of times the ArcGIS item page has been viewed"?
I also found the following paragraph (at the following page: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/manage-data/monitor-item-usage.htm) and I am now a bit confused about how the views for StoryMaps are counted:

"For maps, scenes, ArcGIS Server layers, and web apps, the view count is increased by one when you open the item page or open the item in Map Viewer or Scene Viewer. For example, if you open the item page for a map image layer and click Open in Map Viewer, the count increases by two. For other items—such as mobile apps and KML—the view count is increased by one when you open the item; the count does not increase when you open the item page."

I'd like this info since we'd like to understand the engagement of our StoryMaps, but unfortunately our company uses Piwik Pro to track analytics, which is currently not supported by ArcGIS. Are there other ways to track engagement or to count the views for each published StoryMap?

Thank you for your time.

ChristopherCounsell · Answer

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/manage-data/monitor-item-usage.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_C30D73392D964D51A8B606128A8A6E8F

For maps, scenes, ArcGIS Server layers, and web apps, the view count is increased by one when you open the item page or open the item in Map Viewer or Scene Viewer. For example, if you open the item page for a map image layer and click Open in Map Viewer, the count increases by two. For other items—such as mobile apps and KML—the view count is increased by one when you open the item; the count does not increase when you open the item page.

Relevant documentation above. It suggests that if a web app item is viewed, or opened, it should add to the view. It implies and web browser based application such as experiences, web appbuilders or story maps; in contrast to mobile apps.However, I would defer to @OwenGeo as the expert of what Story Maps behaviour is. You can test this yourself using a new story map if you are not sure. That's how I tested it on a Web Map.

PlantPestSurveillancePROJECT · Answer

Dear @ChristopherCounsell, thank you for your kind answer.

From your answer, I understand that opening both the StoryMap itself and the StoryMap item page increases the view count. However, this contradicts what has been said in this post: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-storymaps-questions/how-are-storymap-views-counted/m-p/1043702

Here @OwenGeo replied that "the number of views that ArcGIS records on a StoryMap's item page is the number of times the ArcGIS item page has been viewed", and, as a consequence, the view count "is not a good indicator of how many people are viewing your story since most people don't go to the item page before viewing the story".
Is this post old and I should not consider it? Is there something I am missing?

Thank you for your help.

ChristopherCounsell · Answer

The view count is how many times the item has been loaded in the web browser. For maps, apps and scenes, this means the item details page or the item is opened. Separately. Meaning going to a Story Map item details page and then opening the Story Map, counts as two views.

You could try assessing the number of views embedded maps receive.

For analytics, I believe only Google or Adobe are supported:

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-storymaps/author-and-share/add-analytics-to-a-story.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_52096B6161CF48B1B632B7B79FF4980A