No more waiting list, no more invitations, Google finally has its freely available Analytics service open for site publishers to try. Part of the desire to try will depend on how far a given site publisher trusts Google.
That seems a bit extreme, since Google already knows, likely to the last bit of a TCP packet, what kind of traffic a particular keyword may have coursing through the tubes of the Internet already. Then again, stranger things happen, but it doesn’t look real likely that Google needs to take business away from a Yahoo or a Microsoft through any means other than being good at what they already do.
For those who choose to venture forth and try out Google Analytics, the free version of what was once the Urchin service Google owns can be installed beginning with a visit to the Analytics website. AdWords clients can click on the Analytics tab within the management interface to get started as well, according to Brett Crosby, Urchin’s co-founder turned senior manager of Google Analytics.
Crosby discussed a brief history of Analytics. This won’t be the first time the product was made available for free to users:
When we founded Urchin we actually had an ad-based business model where we were able to give the product away for free. It didn’t last and we eventually went with a paid model. But when our company was acquired in April 2005 we worked with Google to determine a way to give it away for free again, this time with no ads.
Now the process only requires a Google Account to sign up for Analytics. For non-AdWords clients, Google limits Analytics to a 5 million page view per month cap. On the privacy side, Google says it protects the Analytics user’s information under its privacy policy, and reports do not contain identifiable information about a site’s visitors.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
