Internet Changes Everything

Google Drops Fee for Analytics Service

Sci-Tech Today - Computing - Google Drops Fee for Analytics Service

By Jay Wrolstad
November 15, 2005 7:10AM

"We want to make this available to more online marketers and publishers, both large and small, so that they can better serve their customers, make more money, and improve the Web experience for all users," said Richard Holden, director of product management at Google.

Google Latest News about Google is now offering its Web analytics Latest News about Analytics service at no charge, hoping to draw more advertisers, Web publishers, and site owners to the company's set of tools for monitoring online marketing efforts.

Formerly known as Urchin, Google Analytics is designed to help businesses better understand what their customers want. The service uses Web site performance data to determine which keywords attract the most visitors, which e-mail campaigns generate the most interest, and what works best in designing attractive Web pages.

AdWords Integration

"We want to make this available to more online marketers and publishers, both large and small, so that they can better serve their customers, make more money, and improve the Web experience for all users," said Richard Holden, director of product management at Google.

The service is based on technology from Urchin Software, which Google acquired in April, and is tightly integrated with Google's AdWords offering.

There is a limit of five million page views per month for the free service, but for those customers using Google's AdWords service, there is no limit.

Google Analytics can track the results of any online marketing campaign, including banner ads, referral links, newsletters, and paid search.

It now features new reporting dashboards, with summary reports customized for executives, marketing managers, and webmasters, said Holden.

One Size Fits All

"While Web analytics services are typically targeted at more sophisticated advertisers, these tools are designed to be user-friendly for all advertisers and publishers," he said. Google Analytics runs on the same infrastructureRelevant Products/Services from BMC Software that powers Google.com, so it can support the traffic demands of sites with hundreds of millions of visitors a week.

AdWords customers now receive automatic tagging of keyword destination URLs and cost data for ROI reports, making it easier to access to crucial information across business departments, said Holden.

"By making these tools widely available, we believe it will improve everyone's experience on the Web, and the business will follow," he said. The idea is that, by acting on the analysis data, businesses can attract more visitors and improve the overall return on their marketing investment.

Google Analytics is already used by companies including The Financial Times, National Semiconductor Latest News about National Semiconductor, Ritz Interactive, Agency.com, and Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

"Advertisers and Web publishers can tell how customers are using a site and what is working or not working on a particular site," said Holden. "Web analytics is now widely recognized as fundamental to measuring the return on advertising dollars."

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November 15, 2005 at 02:47 PM in Online Marketing | Permalink | TrackBack (8) | Top of page | Blog Home