Google upgrades analytics

Today at the eMetrics Summit in Washington, D.C., Google is unveiling new features to its Google Analytics product and an updated version of Urchin software.

According to the company, the enhanced feature set, which includes site search reporting and event tracking, makes Web 2.0 information more accessible and comprehensible, and enables Google Analytics users to better understand their users and to act on reporting information in more sophisticated ways.

The site search feature tracks internal search patterns and aggregates the data, enabling marketers to better measure the effectiveness of their websites and marketing dollars.

“There’s a goldmine of data that you can pull out of that,” Brett Crosby, senior manager of Google Analytics, told iMedia. “It’s a significant source to tell how engaged your customer is with the website experience.”

Event tracking, which launches in a limited beta at the eMetrics Summit, enables Google Analytics users to measure visitor engagement with a site’s interactive elements, such as Ajax, Javascript, Flash movies, page gadgets, downloads and other multimedia Web 2.0 experiences.

“These features take analytics in a new direction where analytics in general is going,” said Crosby.

In addition to the upgrades to Google Analytics, Google is announcing the release of Urchin Software in beta. Urchin Software is an update to Urchin 5 software.

The nearly $3,000 product will be available for a discounted price to users of Urchin 5 once it is out of beta, and will include many improvements including tools to assist in migrating configurations and data from previous versions of Urchin. A free 90-day trial of the beta version of Urchin Software can be requested now from an authorized reseller.

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