Maybe it’s the competitive pressure from IndexTools/Yahoo or just a carnivorous appetite for your data, but Google really seems to be on a tear with analytics lately.
Google Trends: Covered in Scales (and Competitive Data)
First, there was the Google Trends update. Google Trends, for those who don’t know, allows you to trend the volume of searches for a particular set of queries over time.
Google finally introduced scales and the ability to export data to a comma separated value (CSV) file. Thus, you can finally get a sense of how dramatic WebTrends search volume has dropped vs. Omniture’s.
Then, Google upped the ante on the competitive intelligence market by releasing Google Analytics for Websites. Admittedly, it offers very few features compared to enterprise tools like Hitwise or mid-market options like Compete, but it will certainly open up the field to more people.
Of course, some people might be interested in exactly where this data is coming from:
Trends for Websites combines information from a variety of sources, such as aggregated Google search data, aggregated opt-in anonymous Google Analytics data, opt-in consumer panel data, and other third-party market research. The data is aggregated over millions of users, powered by computer algorithms, and doesn’t contain personally identifiable information. Additionally, Google Trends for Websites only shows results for sites that receive a significant amount of traffic, and enforces minimum thresholds for inclusion in the tool.
The Arranged Marriage – Google AdWords and Google Analytics
From the beginning, Google Analytics has been synchronized with AdWords (though, not always well suited for measuring paid search). Lately, it seems that Google has been pushing the switch from AdWords Conversion Tracking to Google Analytics more aggressively based on 2 points:
First, Google is dumping your old reports
Second, Google is pushing AdWords in Analytics and Analytics in AdWords
This makes perfect sense, of course, for Google. The question is… what’s next?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I work for a non-profit organization and we recently started using Google Analytics in house. For a small company it provides all the information we need in a very user friendly format that all of the staff can understand. We don’t see a need to upgrade to any pay-per-use software program at this time!
Hi Natalie,
I agree with you that Google Analytics makes sense for many organizations, especially those with a limited budget or a less web analytics inclined audience.
I think the competition in the free space will heat up when IndexTools from Yahoo becomes widely available. Of course, GA will still have advantage in presentation (user experience).
Many people use Mint (http://haveamint.com/) as an alternative for smaller websites and blogs. I myself use Google Analytics, though if someone wants to give me another tool for free…
-Alex