Google Integrates Free Analytics Service With AdWords, Offers Some Free Tools To Non-Partners

Google Analytics opens for business today with the idea of giving web publishers and partners access to sophisticated analysis. From the site intro: “Google Analytics gives us an opportunity to invest in our advertisers and everyone else who wants to create quality content on the web. Instead of spending money on web analytics, you can focus on creating targeted, ROI-driven marketing campaigns, and on improving your site design and content.” It’s based on Urchin Software, the comopany Google acquired last March for an estimated $30 million. That would be the other shoe competitors like Web Side Story and Web Trends hear dropping this morning.
Users insert the Google Analytics tracking code into each website pages and tracking begins immediately. It’s seamlessly integrated with AdWords, available in English and at least a dozen other languages, and, Google claims, has all the features you’d expect from a high-end analytics offering.
There are a few catches. For instance, only sites with page views of 5 million or less a month can track non-AdWords campaigns for free. But label it disruptive with a capital D for the analystics industry. Jupiter Research analyst Eric T. Peterson tells the NYT only 17 percent of the quarter-million web publishing companies with at least $1 million in annual revenue use analytics to manage their sites.
It’s not a charitable proposition: Not only is it promotional for Google AdWords, acted upon, Google Analytics should increase returns from Google partrners, which in turn goes to Google’s bottom line. But Google insists the data being gathered won’t be used by Google for Google.
Search Engine Watch saw this coming and Nathan Weinberg reminds us of the difference between AdWords and AdSense. Also, from the Official Google Blog, a link to the Wikipedia entry on analytics. Some react here.

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