If you enjoy blogging and you savor free web analytics software, get ready for Google Analytics Version 3… well, something.
As anyone who follows analytics knows, the vendors love to make big announcements at Jim Sterne’s eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit. With the San Francisco summit just round the corner (May 4th - 7th), you had better bet that some news is on its way.
Now, TechCrunch is reporting that Measure Map is rising from the dead. Measure Map is the blog analytics company purchased by Google. Jeffrey Veen then went on to influence the design of Google Analytics visual overhaul.
Quote The Crunch:
I went through the signup process, which requires a Google Analytics account and tracking pixel. They then said “Great! You’re all set. We’ve got a few things to set up on our end. We’ll send you an email when we’re ready (soon!) and explain how to log in.”
We’re looking at one of 2 scenarios here:
- Google will have 2 products: a blog focused analytics product and the more robust Google Analytics. I could see them rolling out Google Analytics: Blog Edition as a standard part of all Blogspot accounts.
- Google Analytics is about to get a facelift with additional social media data integrated into it.
Personally, I think #2 is the more likely option. Since I can’t make it, I’m counting on June to report back all the findings. Avinash, who is running Measure Map, probably can’t spill the beans early, though I guarantee he’ll have a post up after any major announcements.
Mmm… delicious blog data.
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Digital Alex is a blog about interactive marketing strategies, web analytics, conversion and more.
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Wow, social media analytics in GA! We’re now far from offering a little free product to support Adwords. That would confirm to me that Google IS in the business of web analytics, and will just keep developing the product indefinitely. With their means, both intellectual and financial, I really wonder what an “agressive” Google (i.e. intending to be on par with, or surpass, the big vendors) would do to that market. Expect Omniture’s stock to go down if that trend gets confirmed (which we should have a good idea of when v3 is out).
Hey Jacques,
Yes, I’m very interested to see how this plays out. It’s possible that they’ll have a “blogger” version of GA under the MeasureMap heading or just integrate them.
Personally, I think it’s only a matter of time before they start pulling data across their properties into one tool–FeedBurners, YouTube analytics, etc.
My hope is that this puts pressure on the big vendors like Omniture and WebTrends to accelerate their feature roll-out.
Cheers,
-Alex
My take on Google Analytics v3.0: of course including Feedburner, MeasureMap and YouTube makes sense, but I think GA v3.0 should be about integration, customization, collaboration and visualization brought to the next level.
Check out my most recent post for my takes on WA 3.0: http://blog.immeria.net/2008/04/google-analytics-v30-my-speculation.html
See you in S-F and we’ll see who’s prediction is the closest!
It makes a lot of sense to tailor a web analytics product for bloggers - there are so darn many of us, and we all watch our stats.
I would love to see Feedburner integrated with Google Analytics, but - as Jacques and I have both lamented - it’s not a very trustworthy data source. Hopefully Google will address that problem before they make Feedburner so much more accessible to the masses.
Sorry we won’t see you at eMetrics, Alex. Whatever Google announces onstage at the conference will go through my Twitter feed and straight to you. :)
Stephane - Man, I hope we get all of that stuff. I think the power user stuff is a way off for Google Analytics. They tend to focus more on the small business user.
June - That’s a really great point about Feedburner. It would be great if they improved the quality, but we shall see.
I’ve been musing on “vertical analytics” (blog focus, SEO focus) vs. “horizontal analytics” (integration, all-in-one). I really think the right product depends upon the end user. Does a casual blogger need full GA? Probably not. Does a power analyst hate siloed data? You bet!
So much room to improve…
Well, if GA goes as far as Stéphane is predicting/hoping, I don’t see what would be left to the big vendors. That would actually be a category killer, and it would make no financial sense for any business people to invest in a product that would compete against the Google machine.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t care if Google takes it all. I am so bored with all the application discussions, which one is better, etc. I think we still talk WAY too much about tools, and not enough about construction…
Hi Jacques,
I have to disagree with you. The big vendors are going to:
1.) Be in a better position to integrate data from the other search engines (why would Yahoo want to give Google their data?)
2.) Position themselves against GA due to privacy issues, i.e. “Don’t use GA, because Google wants your data to increase CPC’s”. Right or wrong, it is a concern for some.
I think there is plenty of pie for everyone. We *need* competition to improve the quality of tools.
Let’s face it, every tool has issues: GA is incomplete and not as flexible as other platforms; Omniture is slow and can be pricey; WebTrends requires is not newbie friendly, etc.
I hope the race heats up!
-Alex
We have our answer. It’s Google Analytics for Blogger:
http://analytics.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-analytics-for-blogger-now-in.html
Yeah! :)
But maybe there’s something even bigger awaiting us next week at eMetrics?