Obviously as Internet technologies change, the solution you are using also needs to change. The most functional solutions provide multiple parameter options for sessionizing. This is important because each Web site's unique mix of traffic could have a significant impact upon visit calculation results. Typical clickstream software solutions reconstruct visits by reassembling Web server log information. User 205.188.209.16 is an AOL user because the assigned address is within this Netblock.
Technology continues to evolve.
This technique is designed to provide better response times by connecting the user to a Web site through the least utilized proxy server, even during a single visit session. Sounds like a great idea except that, from a clickstream analysis point of view, it causes measurement problems and potentially incorrect results. Now realize that the referrals are not going to align by IP addresses in this scenario. Everything will appear unique. Let's continue this scenario by adding the use of cookies by our Web site and analyze what happens when we recreate our visits using the cookies as input to the that process.