Three primary sources of Big Data are :

• Social data :

  • Social data comes from the likes, tweets & retweets, comments, video uploads, and general media that are uploaded and shared via social media platforms.

  • This kind of data provides invaluable insights into consumer behaviour and sentiment and can be enormously influential in marketing analytics.

  • The public web is another good source of social data, and tools like Google trends can be used to good effect to increase the volume of big data.

• Machine data :

  • Machine data is defined as information which is generated by industrial equipment, sensors that are installed in machinery, and even web logs which track user behaviour.

  • This type of data is expected to grow exponentially as the internet of things grows ever more pervasive and expands around the world.

  • Sensors such as medical devices, smart meters, road cameras, satellites, games and the rapidly growing Internet of Things will deliver high velocity, value, volume and variety of data in the very near future.

• Transactional data :

  • Transactional data is generated from all the daily transactions that take place both online and offline.

  • Invoices, payment orders, storage records, delivery receipts are characterized as transactional data.