How do analytics really work?

[thwart]

How do analytics work? I know I installed a code from Google Analytics, but how did that segment the traffic coming in as Natural and Paid traffic?

What if I have traffic coming from email promotions, comparitive shopping engines, and affiliate programs. How does Analytics bucket them?

[caily]

better read this one:
Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55539)