Google Analytics Gets More Robust
Last month, many online marketers got just what they were waiting for: news that new functionalities representing a major upgrade to Google Analytics were coming.
In an Oct. 22 blog post, Google said it has been speaking with its customers, Web analytics experts and customers of other analytics tools about additional functionality they’d all like added to Google Analytics. The company said it wanted to make Google Analytics “as powerful, flexible, and useful as a Web analytics tool can be.”
The new features include advanced segmentation, custom reports, a data export application programming interface, integrated reporting for AdSense publishers, multi-dimensional data visualizations and an updated user and administrative interface. Some of these features are still in beta test mode.
While all of this functionality is good news to Google Analytics users, the big news here is the application programming interface, says Jim Sterne, president of Target Marketing, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Internet marketing strategy consultancy. He’s also the founding director and president of the Web Analytics Association.
“The major complaint about Google Analytics was that the data were inaccessible,” Sterne says. “Now, with the API, people can download their data and slice and dice it all they want with whatever tools they like. This is a big step forward. Google Analytics was a wonderful tool for the price — now it’s an astonishing tool.”
In effect, Google has created a more robust Web analytics tool that will undoubtedly help online marketers improve their competitive edges and marketing optimization programs.
