Today Google Inc. unexpectedly announced an exciting new version of its free web traffic analysis product, Google Analytics. The announcement was made by Google Analytics' Senior Manager Brett Crosby and Design Manager Jeffrey Veen in San Francisco at the EMetrics Summit, where Google is a major sponsor.

Google Analytics is a remotely hosted web analytics service for easily tracking visitor interaction with web sites. Google acquired the core of their web analytics technology in 2005, when they purchased Urchin Software Corporation. Google Analytics is fully integrated with the company's AdWords on-line advertising program.

What's Really New? Plenty.

The new version released today offers a new user interface with clearer views of data and statistics, the ability to e-mail reports, customizable information displays, and easier to understand, less technical language throughout. Several reports have been combined, and Google also notes that the update includes improved metrics. The use of scorecards and clearer overviews of data are also present in the updated version announced today, along with a more flexible graphing tool and improved report controls to help visualize data in new ways.

Early Adopter's Take

Music giant Geffen Records has been trying out the new version of Google Analytics. Geffen's Director of Digital Technology Lee Hammond is impressed with the upgrade. "As an early adopter of the new version of Google Analytics, we are impressed with the richness of the data and its ease of use that provides us with the most important information immediately." Geffen uses Google Analytics, "to determine what website content is most valuable to music fans so we can craft the most effective marketing strategies," said Geffen's Head of Digital Media Aaron Foreman.

Can I Use it Now? Yes.

Those who sign up for Google Analytics as of Tuesday, May 9, 2007 will automatically have use of the new version, while current users will be migrated to the latest version during the upcoming weeks. Current Google Analytics user's historical data will also be migrated to the upgraded version, and will be able to access both the old and updated systems for at least 30 days. Existing users will receive an e-mail once their accounts have been migrated to the upgraded version.

InformationWeek quotes Google's Brett Crosby speaking to the scope of the changes in today's announced update, "The interface in this product has been completely redesigned to put information in context."

Crosby also highlighted how the new easy to understand language in Google Analytics, "is designed to help get the right data to the right people at the right time so they can make the right decisions,” according to a MarketingPilgrim.com article.

By making it easier for everyone who needs to access web site usage information, from programmers to executives, Google hopes the updated Analytics offering will increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, improve web sites and convert more visitors. Google claims that Google Analytics can help advertisers, website owners and publishers improve their on-line results.

New Graphs and More

According to Google, users requested easier to navigate reports, improved data presentation and collaboration, and these have all been addressed in the redesigned version. Additional improvements include data summaries, trend analysis, and the ability to download web site analytics in Abode PDF files, augmenting the already present exportation to XML, CSV and TSV formats. A Flash demonstration showing the new features of Google Analytics is also available, showing the new features, including context sensitive help and clickable "GeoTargeting" maps that show web traffic by city, state, country, region and continent. A new trend graph can compare time periods and specific date ranges while keeping long-term trends visible.

Jeffrey Veen, who came to Google from Adaptive Path, has used Measure Map technology in the upgraded version of Google Analytics. Google's Jeff Gillis notes that the program currently has hundreds of thousands of users.

Additional Resources about Google Updates Analytics Software: