Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2

Complexity SimplifiedGoogle announced the launch of Version 2 of Google Analytics today. Over the next few weeks Google will upgrade current GA users to the new version. Many of the most frequent GA users (big or small) already have access to V2 as of this morning (please log into your account and check).

Version 2 is so radically different and provides such a compelling value proposition to users of web analytics that I am excited to write a blog post about a product (the first time I have done this in 11 months of existence of this blog).

I am also the Analytics Evangelist for Google but you’ll see that I am so excited about GA V2 not because I consult for Google but because I believe that v2 is a leap forward for all of its current users and a new standard for the industry when it comes to interacting complex web analytics data. Please share with me what you think, at the end of this post.

Also while this post is about GA V2 it contains examples of the best practices I have talked about on this blog frequently, I have just tried to do those with GA here. So if you use Omniture or WebTrends or WebSideStory or HBX or Visual Sciences or ClickTracks or indexTools or NetInsight or any other piece of web analytics software (and care only a little about GA) you'll still find tangible examples of analysis you can do to find actionable insights. You can follow along and replicate these with your web analytics tool.

Here are the five things you should do the first time you log into GA V2:

Summary:

  1. Notice the awesome new data interaction model.
  2. Take the enhanced "data discoverability" for a spin.
  3. Context is king! Find your context quickly.
  4. Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away.
  5. Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email any report or dashboards, Better site overlay, Much nicer page level reporting and more.

Details:

# 1: Notice the awesome new data interaction model.

One more of most dramatic changes to Google Analytics V2 is the new immersive data interaction model. It sets a new benchmark for how users interact with data. It shifts the model from a few digging long and hard to find insights to the many not having to dig a lot to find first blush insights and also having the power to easily and quickly dig deeper if they want to.

The V2 UI is completely new and the center piece of this launch. Every where from totally customizable dashboards to the overview reports to the presentation of the data and more “stories� that go with the reports now. The tool is easier to use, key metrics jump out to you and it is ever more easy to understand what is going one (if only all sexiness in the world was so productive! : )).

Here’s the new dashboard (notice the use of colors, font, content groupings etc in service of quickly communicating with you):

Google Analtyics Dashboard

All images in this post are linked to slightly higher resolution images, go ahead and click on all the images . The screenshots represent real data for this blog.

Here is the new presentation of the split between New vs. Returning visitors (notice the small “story� under the graph, the use of colors and layout of the table, and a quick and easy way view that communicates not just what happened last month but also a eye catching graph that tells us “performance� vs site average):

Google Analytics: New vs. Returning Visitors

As you’ll use the tool you’ll see more and more examples of effective communication of data via a very well thought out UI that is perhaps the best one today amongst all web analytics tools.

People underestimate the value of being pretty. Our world of web analytics is already too complex and data is hard to parse and insights harder still to get. Effective presentation of data (ok pretty!) is greatly accretive to helping understand trends and insights and significantly increase ease of use both for a lay person and the super analyst.

# 2: Take the enhanced "data discoverability" for a spin.

It is both a blessing and a curse that there so much data that we have access to. It means both that we can track and report a lot but it also means that it is a non-trivial challenge to find all the metrics/pieces of data you need to find the nuggets of actionable insights.

The new version of Google Analytics does a great job of addressing this challenge by immensely improving, what I call, data discoverability. The key data you need is not hidden sixteen clicks away. Most of it has been surfaced so that it is staring at you already or you can find it in two clicks.

For example look at the Visitors Overview (click Visitors on the left navigation in GA):

google analytics v2 discover data

Notice that not only do you get a trend of the Visitors to the site but you can also get all your key metrics in one "page view". Further more the next action is within easy reach, either click on one of the many metrics you see under the graph or there are Visitor Segmentation options being suggested to you. You quickly get the whole story but you also learn what else is there.

Did you notice the lovely sparklines? Somewhere Edward Tufte is smiling. :)

Here's another example. I am deeper into my reports and want to see where my traffic is coming from. Easy report from any tool (and a report you should constantly look at).

google analytics v2 discover data

On one page you have three interesting ways to discover data (and find insights):

1) You can easily switch the "master metric trend" to one of the other metrics (and get a quick glimpse of the performance of your referring sites).

2) You can easily switch between "standard metrics" to "bottom-line metrics" (Conversion). Compare image below to image above, one click access to clickstream (behavior) and outcomes.

google analytics v2 goal conversion

3) Oh your standard metrics are always there, even though you were looking for Visits, to prompt you to dig deeper (notice that Visits are doing ok but something happened in May that caused a increase in content consumption – pages/visit and time on site – and caused lowered bounce rates).

As you use the tool you'll find many little and big ways in which the new UI makes it easier for you to drill down, drill up and drill around.

# 3 Context is king! Find your context quickly.

On this blog we have highlighted the importance of having relevant context to helping you make optimal decisions. The recent how should analysts spend their day post indicated that 20% of the time should be dedicated to staying plugged into the context.

The new version of Google Analytics provides several features that help you get relevant context to the performance of your website metrics. I think both of these make it significantly easier for novices and experts to understand their data (which might lead to more insights). Let me share a couple of examples……

In my emetrics presentations I have talked about how key metrics are often "lonely" and need friends to highlight important opportunities and occurrences. No matter where you go in the new Google Analytics your metrics won't be "lonely", you won't find too many reports where you only look at one metric by itself. Lots of thought has been put into showing key metrics in context.

Here is a example, I am looking for the conversion rate for the last month and sure enough it is easy to fine (click on traffic sources, then Keywords, then switch Visits for the graph into Goal Conversion Rate):

google analytics v2 search keyword performance

Now notice something cool, not only do you have a trend for conversion rate on your website but in the Site Usage area of your report you can see your key metrics for the Search Traffic (numbers in bold black) but, this is fun, notice that you can also see (in smaller grey font) the comparison of your search metrics with your Site Metrics. You easily get important context such as "the % of new visitors is higher for search but their site page views per visit is lower". Often we buy into the hype of search engines because we might only look at one metric or the other, now you can get the whole picture, quickly.

And you don't lose that valuable context as you drill down, in this case I drill down to looking at the Conversion Rate for the top keyword from search engines:

google analytics v2 search keyword drill down

Even at a quick glance I know exactly how this keyword is performing, not just for Conversion Rate but all other important metrics (this is the top performing keyword but only contributes 1.41% of the site visits!).

Also data discoverability continues to be enhanced, notice right under the keyword are options to see performance for Total, Paid (PPC / SEM) and Non-Paid (Organic – SEO). You never have to leave the "page" to do all this.

But perhaps one of the easiest way for you to get context about your performance is to simply compare it to a, well, comparable time period. With Version 2 this is easier than ever. You still have to boring calendar you can choose your time periods from, but what I like better is the new Timeline feature where I have the option to using two slides and drag them to choose my date range. Very efficient…..

google analytics v2 context from time

As soon as I hit Apply Range I can see at a glance trend of the main metric I was looking at for the two time periods (Visits) but notice the changes for all other metrics. My sparkline trends now show the two time periods. I also have automated raw numbers for my key metrics and in helpful Red and Green indicators how each metric has performed over those two time periods.

Again in this case you can understand your performance better and even at this high level the questions you should now ask of your data will bubble up.

The nice thing is that once you choose your timeline for comparison in any report, that comparison then permeates all your reports so that you can start at a high level and drill down and still have the valuable context. Here for example is a drill down to sources of traffic to the site where I find the same timeline comparison…….

google analytics v2 time context for traffic sources

You can hover your mouse on the timeline to get daily performance, or you can easily look at the deltas for the key metrics (click on the image above to see how the context continues for your top sources and keywords, all on the same page – remember the goal is for you not to dig around to get actionable insights).

# 4: Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away.

Most of the reports you’ll see in Version 2 of Google Analytics provide easy access to segmentation options. For example in this report while looking at the Direct Traffic you can simply click on arrow next to Segment and you can see lots of segmentation options (including by some Value that you can define and pass to GA):

Google Analytics v2: Segmentation

And here is another example for when you are deep in the bowels of doing your long term analysis you can quickly see how these options (in a composite image) would be very helpful:

Google Analytics v2: Segmentation

# 5: Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email reports/dashboards, Better site overlay, Much nicer page level reporting and more.

You now have a very convenient to share your analysis / insights with a wider group of people in your organization. Just select any report (even ones you have segmented and timeline compared etc) and click the Email button…..

Google Analytics v2: Email and schedule reports

As you can see above you have the ability to write a custom message, choose a convenient format (including extremely high resolution PDF's) and the schedule.

Site overlay gets a v2 upgrade as well, notice something new…..

Google Analytics v2 - Site Overlay

The site overlay report not only opens in a new window (where you can simply "surf your site") but on the top you see a new "navigational bar" that allows you to switch your choices of what you want your site overlay to display. In the screen shot above that Clicks, Goal Value (How much is each link driven in terms of goal revenue), Goals 1 and 2 (click density for driving to conversion goals that you have set for your website). You can now visually get a great picture of how each page is performing.

Site overlay is one of the most underutilized reports of any tool, with v2 it gets better in Google Analytics and builds a foundation for future enhancements.

Page level analysis has also gotten easier and much better in V2. As you’ll see in the screenshot below you can choose the page you want and then look at a detailed summary or navigation summary or entrance paths to the page or external sources who referred traffic to a page or the keywords that drove traffic to a page from a search engine.

Google Analytics v2: Page level analysis

The Entrance Paths is particularly interesting. For example how many people came to the product page, where did they go next and of those how many ended up in the shopping cart and if not there then where did they end up? Good to understand and actionable (even though I am not a huge fan of site level path analysis, that is not a good use of time).

Novice users (or experienced users!) will find it very convenient to locate help and definitions throughout the application. Just click on the question mark icon next to any metric you see or the Conversion University link next to any report.

Google Analytics v2: Help

Let us all resolve never to get confused about Hits, Visits, Visitors and Unique Visitors!! : )

So what should you do now? Can't let you get away without action items now:

  1. If you have used Google Analytics thus far then try the analysis above and give the new reports a spin, I guarantee that you'll find the tool significantly easier to use and you'll discover your own little and big trends faster.
  2. If you have never used Google Analytics before then now is a good time to try. It still comes free (sign up here) and you'll see what a free tool can do that your current web analytics tool can't. You may or may not decide to use cancel your current tool subscription, that is a very personal choice, but you'll make that decision for a informed position.

Closing thought: Having been such a fan of Measure Map I am super impressed with what Jeff Veen and his team have delivered, something that is a revolutionary step forward when it comes to complex web data and how we interact with that data in our quest to find insights. But I am a greed person and want a lot more! :) I am excited for the future possibilities of innovation and invention on top of this new platform.

What do you all think? Have you tried V2? Are you excited about what you have read above (if you made it this far)? Was this post by a Analytics Evangelist or a super excited web analytics geek/blogger? Please share your thoughts and feedback via comments, I would love to hear what you all have to say. Thanks.

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Comments

  1. 1

    How do I get the hourly view that was available in the old version. I used to compare intra-day trends (week-over-week) and can't seem to do this in the new version. Is there a way to look at the hourly trends (e.g. Total conversion) for today vs last week?

  2. 2

    I'm impressed. The old interface was one of the worst interfaces for any web site I have ever seen, even if it was powerful.

    You can definitely see the MeasureMap influence here. Now the question is, what is going to happen to MM? The new GA is still very geared towards business usage. Is MM going to be re-released with some of these new features but in a format more geared towards bloggers?

  3. 3

    Sticky reports! Email options! Bliss! :)

    There are still a couple bugs to be ironed out such as the account selection dropdown.

    reminds me of a post called "Hi, my name is Avinash, what makes you unique?" : Google just raised the bar a heck of a lot for smaller vendors

    Cheers Avinash, and thanks for the walkthrough!

    Julien

  4. 4

    I'm really enjoying the new interface, and this is a great post reviewing all the features (I just did a bit of a guided tour using your five points). Fantastic stuff all round.

  5. 5

    Great step by step tutorial. I really needed something like this in order not to get lost in the new features :)

  6. 6

    Great post Avinash. All I can say is Wow! I have been waiting for this ever since Google acquired Measuremap. One of the biggest issues with the old interface was getting to actionable insights, particularly for those who had no prior experience of web analytics. This upgrade will make it much easier for novices and experts alike.

  7. 7
    John Fitzsimmons says

    Nice screenshots! ***Drooling***

  8. 8

    Excellent write up Avinash! Now I just have to wait till my account is upgraded. I'm not on V2 yet. I look forward to giving this version a spin.

    Does this change require any quick edits at the printer for you?

  9. 9

    Excellent post Avinash. Learned few tricks here :)

  10. 10

    those sparklines look amazingly clear, and ther is no doubt that Tufte would be proud. Are you using an existing sparkline implementation, and/or is that sparkline code something you are interested in contributing back to the community?

  11. 11

    Of course, the new GA interface is very smooth and cool. That's the best description I can give for it.

    I was very impressed with how fast I was able to pick it up (we were fortunate to have one of our accounts with access to V2). Normally it takes a long time to get comfortable or used to new interfaces…or so it seems. After about a half-hour of just literally clicking around, I was like "I think I got it". I went into one of our current accounts, and you can just feel the difference.

    I'm a big fan of nice and big fonts (I want to READ the text), and also nice colors. It's amazing how much of an impact that makes.

    But the best thing of all that I haven't seen anyone say yet – this is still FREE!!! (Unless I totally missed something). I mean, if you sell an analytics software or program, you may want to check to make sure it's darn good.

  12. 12

    Also, if I'm not mistaken, nothing has changed as far as URL or Site Coding…so no hassles there (is this accurate?)

  13. 13

    I'm not sure how you're deciding which accounts to upgrade… But from one 'community evangelist' to another, I just wanted to suggest that upgrading the accounts of influential bloggers, etc would be a smart move.

    I went to write a review today for my blog but was disappointed to find that my account hasn't been upgraded. I ended up writing a general piece, which got listed on TechMeme, but it was a shame not to have the new site in front of me to be able to give it a real test-drive.

  14. 14

    ???????????? ??? 5dig.net (?? digg), ?????????

  15. 15

    @Joe Teixeira: You are right there is no need to change anything in the site coding. It transferred seamlessly for me.

  16. 16
    Tim Leighton-Boyce says

    Oh my goodness…

    I have some accounts on the old version and some on the new and I'm already starting to sulk like a spoilt child because I want the new interface on all of them NOW. The improvement is that big.

    We use a combination of Google Analytics with Clicktracks and again and again I've noticed users new to GA stumbling around the GA interface as if it was a maze. (It WAS a maze.) This is so much better and, like Clicktracks, points new users in the direction of insights rather than just leaving them to contend with a load of reports.

    The fact that the email facility even includes the ability to add in some kind of commentary also strikes me as really good. It looks to me as if the new version takes away a chunk of the drudgery in producing reports and even provides a subtle prompt to use the extra time for a few words of analysis.

    But I join Jason in querying what has happened with the date range features. The new interface is so much better for most purposes, I agree. And I like the way that if you select a week using the left of the calendar, for example, the default time line still shows the context surrounding the week. The date comparison functions are so much better now and that is a critical improvement.

    But what happened to the different time display options, such as monthly/hourly? Where is the ever-so-useful 'weekly' which was strangely lacking in the old version? And what has happened to the old ability to select 'all the Mondays' by clicking on the top of the relevant column in the calendar (even if only for a single month at a time)?

    Perhaps this is just a case of me not spotting options which have been moved. It certainly took a while to find hidden features in the old interface, so I can hardly complain.

    To be clear: I'm not complaining. I am hugely impressed. I am also delighted that you've provided us with a post which contains both a great guided tour to how to use something and a series of reminders about what we might/should be using it for. Once again, thanks, Avinash!

  17. 17

    It is really late in the night, my apologies for the short replies:

    Anne: If you mean the book then it is too late! :)

    Jehiah: That is a great suggestion, I'll add to the list but as you can imagine I don't have a definitive answer so early in the process.

    Joe Teixeira: The tool is completely free and will remain so. You don't have to change anything, just sit tight and wait for the welcome message. :)

    Ben: I understanding your prespective completely. Google wanted to make sure that the rollout is done in a fair way. I assure you that the roll out will scale very quickly.

    Tim: You have to options to change the date, I like the timeline feature better but in this image you'll see Calendar and using that you can do all of the features that you have been used to in terms of time options.

    Thanks to you all for the kind words and support, it is very welcome and deeply appreciated. As you use the tool please feel free to write to me here or via email to share your experiences.

    -Avinash.

  18. 18

    @Avinash: of course your swamped with a million things to do and a million and a half new requests… thats the sign of a good launch!

  19. 19

    I agree with you, it is very good, although as an advanced user, and as you noticed, there are a lot missing for serious web analytics work on large sites, but I like it because it kind of sets the standard of simplicity which is not the case with Web analytics tools.

  20. 20

    Thanks for the post. Do you ever sleep?!
    Marty

  21. 21

    Avinash – awesome stuff.

    You have certainly contributed to the usability and analysis that Google offers. This was needed in order to stay competitive, and the result was to set the bar very high for other vendors, especially the high-priced ones that don't offer similar features. I even have to admit that this may even make me a fan. Great job!

  22. 22

    Avinash,

    I noticed that in the morning and realised Google just wrote off $30 million urchin investment.

    We offer a custom reporting console to our clients – for free. We boasted features such as any data couple of clicks away – multi selection of variables and their impact on the visits, pageviews, bounce rates and conversions.

    We are threatened now as i can foresee v3 of it offering customizable columns and multiselect options.

    So are the commercial web analytics firms imo.

    To my mind, the damn good features to have in the next version are
    1. Solid Trend comparision
    2. Multi-selection of data variables
    3. Some kind of combinatorial impact on the results. (say with all the data,GA runs a multivariate analysis and finds that some variable or group of variables have significantly influenced the results/goals and puts up in the dashboard or as an alert)

    I couldn't find city level analysis though. Some kind of time zones (intra-day) will also help imo. (currently adwords gives an hourly report at the account level, but if you crack it at all variable level, it would be a great job)

    But in all its a great job!! my post sometime in the morning http://www.valuepitch.com/blog/2007/05/google-analytics-now-looks-like-google.html

    Cheers,
    Venkat.

  23. 23

    My account isn't yet upgraded, so I'm eagerly awaiting the new version. It does look great and I may even use it on some commercial sites now that it's so much better.

    However, the old version has a number of severe limitations (such as only 4 definable goals) and I'm wondering whether this has been addressed?

  24. 24

    Avinash, these are great news. Being impressed with V1, I expect to love new V2 UI.
    I guess, this UI enhancement allows more flexibility in data access.

  25. 25

    Hi Avinash,

    This is a pretty landmark event for the web analtyics community, since it shortens the gap between marketing folk and the analytics geeks.

    Here are a few of my thoughts:
    – The speed of the tool was the first thing I noticed. Cross-segmentation/sub-relation used to take way longer than necessary on my high-speed fancy corporate line. This finally keeps up with the speed of my questions ("Ooh, but what about…")

    – I love the slick presentation and improved data discoverability. The fewer screens between me and potential insight, the more efficient I can be. Plus, now I can just use screen shots for my presentations and not apologize for how they look :-)

    – The trend/sparkline/context feature is so obvious that I'm not sure why it hadn't been implemented earlier.

    – Finally, customizable dashboards!

    I'd also like to issue some challenges to Google for v3:

    – Finish up the ability to import cost data from Yahoo, MSN and other paid channels. I know you're working on it, but we need it now!

    – Bring on more advanced segmentation. As I'm fond of saying, "Averages Lie." I think ClickTracks does the best job of simplifying segmentation and GA needs to step it up.

    – Let me put in more of my context. When I look at the data, it's easy for me to say "Oh, well, the server was down that day." or "That was the start of our big marketing campaign." Other people won't necessarily know those things, but I'd like to record them for posterity.

    – Focus on actionability. Now that I have the data, what does it mean and what should I do about it? I'm not saying that we can automate analysts (at least, I hope we can't), but novice analytics users still need help separating data from insight. I think V2 gets us closer, but the closer we get to pointing out RELEVANCE, the better it will be.

    Finally, I'm curious how this release will ripple through the industry:
    – Will small market vendors like ClickTracks be forced to move to mid-market to survive?

    – How long will it be before larger vendors scramble to update their UI to be just as slick?

    – How will we ever recruit enough people know that everyone will use analytics? :-)

    I'd love to hear your thoughts.
    -Alex

    acohen AT commerce360 DOT com

  26. 26

    All I can say: Wow! The new interface is a major leap forward. How this will affect other tools vendors is anyone's guess… I know that most of our clients will love this new tool set, but there's still the need for process and people, which is where folks like our company come in… ;->

    Keep up the great job!

  27. 27

    Hi, the new look is very slick and appealing, but the most common thing I do with Analytics is click on the current day to see if I'm having a good day or a bad day. If I can't see it hourly then it isn't much help.
    I'd like to see that feature. look at my hourly pagecounts and tell me if I'm above average, highest ever, below average, etc….

  28. 28

    Avinash

    Must be the longest post you have mad so far… but great!
    This upgrade will rock when it hits a lot of GA users as well as competitors dito!

    See that you have recieved a lot of comments in exotic languages. It really spins around!

    Nice!

  29. 29

    Excellent post as always Avinash. I especially like the timeline function instead of being forced to use the calendar function. As far as your question, I thought you presented the upgrade in a fair way, and that you didn't appear to be telling everyone to call up Orem and tell them that they're cancelling Site Catalyst. I would also applaud the Google guys for the speed of reporting. It truly is a great product. Thanks again!

  30. 30

    Avinash,

    I've noticed that some archipelagos cannot be found in any of the Geo Map Overlays. For example, the Azores and Madeira, which are of Portugal. Also I don't see the Bahamas or Bermuda.

    Are the stats for these island groups just lumped in together with the country that governs them?

  31. 31

    Great article. Please check your grammar before posting. You have several mistakes that make the article hard to read.

  32. 32

    Avinash,

    Are those chart styles available commercially or via open source?

    Cheers!

  33. 33

    Hi Avinash,

    The V2 does provides some new and better features.

    I'd like to see that it keeps the function of exporting the whole report to Excel so that I can run macro to decompose the search phrases, etc. The V2 can only export rows on the screen. I'd also like it to keep the original calendar options of "daily" and "hourly". This is useful for server capactiy planning.

  34. 34

    is it me or can't you go back up one level in the content drilldown report??
    I can't click the breadcrumb showing what im viewing… and i must be blind, but can't a button or link for 1 level up…?

  35. 35
    Tim Leighton-Boyce says

    Wei Zhang and I seem to have similar needs… On reading that comment I went and investigated the keyword report export.

    The new version is great in the way that it combines data from several tabs, but I too will greatly miss the ability to get a file containing all the key phrases. It was ideal for mining activities and also for compiling reports on keyword trends over time — trying to spot the future stars as they start to rise.

    I realise this is a bit of a "me too" comment. Is there a better way of providing this kind of feedback, I wonder? I went to look in the Analytics Helps Groups and there are threads scattered all over the place.

    I think it might be useful to add a specific group to discuss the upgrade. The new "Analytics Integrations" discussions don't seem to have attracted much interest, but I bet this subject would!

  36. 36

    Great post, I am thrilled to see the upgrades!

  37. 37
    josef k says

    Great stuff… but, if I can only export reports of 100 rows it ain't a goer. Anyone have an idea whether this is a permanent 'feature', or will it be corrected?

  38. 38

    Avinash,

    Thanks for the great overview of the new interface. I referenced your post in my company's latest blog post: Views on the new Google Analytics

  39. 39
    Jared Valarta says

    Personally, I don't get the hype. I think everyone is "google-eyed" becuase it's Google. What about ClickTracks, or VisiStat? Their interfaces, IMHO, are still far advanced over this yet you don't see this type of cultic fanfare with them. AND they are real-time.

    Has anyone ever put any thought into how this is the Fox watching the Hen House? Well, since this is a rah-rah session for Google, I'll be shocked if my comments are even allowed. Hopefully the moderator is open to alternative views :)

  40. 40

    Hi Avinash,

    Is there an easy way to do content grouping with v2? For example, can I see path analysis for a class of pages (e.g. all product pages)? See: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3625614

    Thanks!
    Eric

  41. 41

    Hi Avinash,

    I found some discrepancies between data from V1 and V2. When I use "Content drilldown" and go to url/folder level and choose "visitor type" from "segment" drop down menu, I get numbers of both return and new visitors. This data is different from I got in the old version. Is this because this data in V2 is "based on sampled data" and that from version1 is not? I also noticed that variance ranges are provided in the new version. I found that the difference between two sets of data is larger than the variance range it gives. Can you tell me the rationale behind this discrepancy? thanks

  42. 42

    I can't tell you how ecstatic I am about this. The first thing I did was call my clients to tell them to look at their new stats!

    I love the new map where I can zoom in on a specific region. And the PDF output is a godsend and will help me in justifying so many things to clients and partners!

    Quite simply put, fabulous UI, very intuitive, printed pdf reports look stellar, if you're not using Google analytics yet, you should be.

  43. 43

    Jared: Dissent, critique, alternative points of view are very welcome. The only criteria is that they stay on the point if possible and not get personal. :)

    Anyone reading this blog will be know of my fondness for ClickTracks, it is a great tool and I talk about it here in glowing terms. I don't know VisiStat very well (though I did play with the demo).

    I think, remember there are ten screenshots on this blog to every one of GA, that V2 provides a superior data interaction model than that of ClickTracks in a number of ways and anyone that wants standard web analytics reporting will be hard pressed to find a more compelling alternative to V2. I invite my friend John Marshall to chime in and share his thoughts.

    CT retains an edge for Analysts becuase of its far superior Advanced Segmentation ability. CT also remains my second choice for its own wonderful data interaction model.

    As regards the Foxes watching the Hens, here are two links with my personal point of view:

    Google AdWords plus Google Analytics: Market Manipulation and Possibility of Mischief ? (Dated 08/31/06)

    Podcast: Google, Evangelism, Data Privacy, Analytics, Yahoo! & Getting The “Web” (After Google's Analytics Evangelist, dated 05/03/07)

    Each person will make up their own mind on this issue based on the information they have available to them and based on their own life experiences. Here is a link to someone who has a alternative point of view to mine :

    Google Analytics: Should Google be minding YOUR Web business?

    Rather than taking any one person's perspective I encourage you to be open to different points of view and make up your own mind.

    Thanks so much for your comment, and in the future please do not hesitate to share your perspective (your email address is now on the pre-approved list so your comment, no matter what you say, will not be in the moderation queue).

    -Avinash.

  44. 44

    Everyone: For help with V2, or to report bugs / issues, please use this link:

    Ask a Question

    Please click on Reporting/Data Issues or Other (or other choices as appropriate). Each request will be read and replied to by the Google Analytics Tech Support team in a timely manner.

    Wei: Your feedback on hourly and daily calendar option id duly noted and has been added to the consideration list.

    Chris: The "bread crumb" is not supposed to be clickable (perhaps it should be?), if I wanted to go just one level up I simply hit the back button. It is possible that I am misunderstanding your issue. If I am, my apologies, please use the link above to contact support.

    Tim: I can understand the issue completely and am going to add your feedback to the list. As regards your question, please use the link above. Thanks.

    Josef K: I can relate to it not being a "goer". :) Your input will be given serious consideration and I believe that it is not a "permanent feature". But please wait to see official communication.

    Eric: At the moment that is not possible with V2, as was the case with V1 as well. I will be sure to add this request to the consideration list for next rev.

    Wei Zhang: Unless there is a specific indication on your report that the data is sampled then I believe that it is not sampled. I would expect very minor shifts in data but should not be anything major. If it is not minor then you can use the link above to contact Google Analytics Tech Support, each request will be read and replied to.

  45. 45

    Avinash:

    Thx for the reply.. I didn't hit the back button since that didn't work in the previous version ;)

    sometimes the solution is so simple .. hehe ;)

  46. 46

    In v1 of Google analytics, if I clicked on a single day, it would show me visits hour by hour, where is the hour by hour view in v2?

  47. 47

    New version looks very good. However there are 2 things I really do not like about Analytics:
    – I can not see exact sites from which I received vistors through context network (the same with keywords from AdWords with broad match);
    – it is not possible to export more than 100 rows of any data. It make very hard some analyses, like the long tail.

  48. 48

    Very true Avinash. I too find Google Analytics really exciting.

    Bhupendra

  49. 49

    As with any new thing there's been a lot of negative comments about the new interface. I for one feel that the segmentation and reporting options are a dream come true. I'll always wish there was a hosted version of Google Analytics. Surprisingly those who question the motivations and fear the ramifications of all of the data Google has on specific site owners never mention the option. A bit off topic, but I wonder if that will ever happen.

  50. 50

    This seems like a major downgrade not an upgrade. Hourly Views are gone? The biggest feature I used in the old version that I found by accident was the geolocation comparison week over week.

    I don't care about trends, the most important thing for me is comparing data to the same day last week and seeing if there are ups or downs in pageviews, overall traffic by region etc.

  51. 51

    Markus: You should easily be able to compare any days you want. Click on the dates and from either the calendar or timeline view choose the dates you want by checking on Compare To Past radio button.

    Now go to any dashboard you want and you'll find the difference between today and same day last week, for example, computed for you every where. Way better than V1.

    As regards hourly, duly noted (see all the other voices in comments!). :)

    Frederick: There is a hosted version of GA, its called Urchin! And it is still available to purchase. :)

    Ok so it is really old and you may not want it. I believe that the team has stated that a updated version, Urchin 6, will be released, though the dates have not been announced yet.

    Urchin 6 will provide a alternative to those who want to have a in-house software version of the web analytics tool.

    -Avinash.

  52. 52

    Great information, Thanks!

    I do have one question for you. With the new Google Analytics, the Dynamic Content Report has gone missing. This report was valuable to us, since many of our pages get visitors with different variables added on the end. For example, http://www.google.com?src=a and http://www.google.com?src=b. The problem for us is we want a report that will combine all of URL’s with different variables at the end into one page, just http://www.google.com.

    Do you have any suggestions for us on how to do this? All of the reports I can find separate out the data for each page with the variables on the end. Thanks.

  53. 53

    Wow. Avinash, you have excelled again here. This is an EXCELLENT read – every one that wants to learn about the new google analytics should read this. Keep up the great work!

  54. 54
    Kristine says

    my apologies but I am sorry cannot disagree more — have you tried to actually use it?

    1. Buggy in Firefox (crashes it consistently)
    2. Graphics are too large and text is equally as obnoxious
    3. Data that used to be viewable on the front page are now 3-5 levels deep
    ex. New maps – I used to be able to look at the executive summary and see where people came from and numbers right there. Now I have to do region/country/city before I can see anything – this is huge esp when monitoring activity of 500k visitors
    4. no network location cross-reference data
    — includes kw (no data)
    5. Cannot see all goal data at the same time
    6. Cannot compare visits, pageviews and conversions at the same time
    7. Not organized well – things do not follow a logical progression
    8. Items are difficult to locate
    9. No real navigational elements
    10.Can only view 100 items at a time instead of 500 not bad on small sites, but on a large site where we get 1/2 a million visitors a month it is severely restrictive
    11. cannot sort data a all.. if it gives you back the lowest ranked kw there is now way to switch to the largest.. so with 55k kw's i have no way to access data.. that is simple.. etc etc etc…

    and this is just from the first 15 mins of using it.

    I will go back to the old til they force the new, but I think they made a horrible mistake – along the lines of IE 7 – it is a lousy product! Only people who use analytics for cursory data will be ok with this – if you are a heavy user for a corporate or high trafficked site these changes are going to severely limit your business model. I think it is time to reconsider our options.

  55. 55

    I was wondering if there should be a Avinash's version of a video showcasing what the post reads., and more.

  56. 56

    V2 release is great. Next step is integration with other tools. Google blog has some examples, but I think it can be taken to the next level.

    It will be nice to see some predictive models built in based on statistical analysis.

    Thanks for the review and looking forward to buy your book.

  57. 57
    Rohithpras says

    The new interface is really cool and more informative and simplified. But I doubt, whether google analytics will be free for long time. Is google not going to make it a paid service in the near future?..

  58. 58

    Avinash was very kind and answered a few questions about the new release of GA.

    Have a look at it here:
    http://www.webanalysts.info/webanalytics/avinash-kaushik-answers-questions-about-the-new-version-of-google-analytics/

    Any feedback to the last question?

  59. 59
    Andrew says

    Avinash:

    Want to give feedback on the new analytic product. For me, the old version graphing is superior but I can see why you've done what you've done.

    Problems:

    1. Can't plot visits + pageviews on one graph – critical.

    2. Can't plot visits/pageviews grouped by month… where has this gone?!? I want to look at a year and see monthly values plotted… this seems to have been nuked. CRITICAL! Every other product does this :-(

    3. Graphs are so "squat" that small variations aren't visible.. can we please be able to see them in a different format/full-screen? Since when were graphs displayed in ultra-ultra-widescreen ratio?

    4. Hangs IE when the flash widget is rotating fairly often.

    Thanks, hope these get corrected before the old (better) graphs are removed.

  60. 60

    Kristine: Thanks for the feedback, and continuing our conversation via email. It is really great to get feedback from the Users as Google considers what worked and what areas need more efforts. Some of the things you mention (not all) can be done with the new version of Google Analytics and I encourage you to continue the exploration process.

    Aman: Thanks for the suggestion, we might consider doing that! :)

    Rohithpras: There are no plans to make Google Analytics a paid service, it will remain a free product. And it will evolve to become even better (you can already see lots of great suggestions in comments on this post).

    Andrew: Great feedback and I really appreciate the fact that it is specific. Have you explored other graphs that you have in the drill down reports (beyond the "banner trend" graph on top of the page)? There are atleast four other formats at your disposal in the drill down reports.

    -Avinash.

  61. 61

    How is measured bounce rate in Google Analytics in relation to outgoing link. If I in post have link to other site, so visitor goes to site (actually aftern only one impression if he is from RSS) and then comes back, then he clicks next link goes to external site and then comes back. Is this going to increase bounce rate?
    Thank you in advance for answer

  62. 62
    Daniel Jeffery says

    There is good and bad in Google Analytics V2. Whilst I think the UI has been improved, it is a shame this has come at the loss of functionality, particularly when Google said the funtionality wouldn't change, only the UI.

    For example, why has the cross segment of Network Location been removed?

    This is a very important feature for us. We run various marketing campaigns that are tied to specific URLs on our website and
    of course we want to see who is visiting these URLs due to the campaign.

    This is a very important metric and I am really disappointed this is not in the new version, especially as Google said that functionality wouldn't change, only the UI.

    Please re-instate it!

  63. 63

    Hi Avinash
    I love the new interface – so much slicker and smoother and insights across different levels spring out so much easier. I still have a few issues with GA/few nice things to have:

    1. You aren't permitted to add more than 4 goals eg a recruitment agency site have job applications from 10 different geographical areas and there is no way to set up each country's applications as a goal. Will more goals be permitted soon?

    2. It is an extra click away from looking up page names in top content

    3. You can't compare visits with page views on a graph.

    4. It would be great to able to copy and paste graphics as pngs (like netinsight do – very small files as well) to custom make one owns report rather than using export to pdf only or screen grabs. In most reports it is the analysis alongside the graphics that makes it valuable.

    Here are my 5 cents anyway.
    Cheers,
    Marianina

  64. 64

    was wondering if anyone knows a good tutorial on how to track email campaigns on new google anayltics system, it says it does it but not clear at all how to access this feature.

    I would imagine it is probably through link tracking on the email but it isnt clear where the interface to check the data would appear in google analytics

    thanks
    ben

  65. 65

    Mariusz: Great question, the answer is slightly complex but here it is….

    When the visitor comes to your website they start a session, this session will terminate after 29 minutes of inactivity. A visitor to your website is counted in Bounce Rate if they only see one page on your website (during that session).

    So in you example if the person comes to your site, then clicks on a link to go to another website then:

    1) If they come back in less than 29 mins they will not be counted in the bounce rate calculations

    2) If they come back after 29 mins then they will be counted in the bounce rate calculations

    Marianina: Thanks so much for the specific feedback, it is very helpful and goes high up in the Important User Feedback list. :)

    Ben: You are right, it is through link tracking. First, you have to track all the links in your email, like this:

    ?utm_campaign=spring&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=June07

    (remember, if you already have a dynamic url and therefore, already have a question mark in the url, you should start with a & sign)

    You probably want to replace *spring *with the name of your campaign. You could skip the content part and just make the utm_source=newsletterJune07, depending on how you want to see the data.

    Email campaign data will appear in a number of reports, depending on how the links are tagged.

    The Traffic Sources > Campaigns report will display the campaign name used in the link tag.

    The Traffic Sources > All Traffic Sources will display the source / medium that was used in the link tagging.

    You can also choose 'medium' from the 'Show' drop down box on the All Traffic Sources report. If you've used the same medium for your email campaigns (which you should!) then all the traffic from emails will be rolled up into a single line item.

    If you're unfamiliar with link tagging here is a good primer: http://www.epikone.com/blog/2006/11/10/google-analytics-campaign-tracking-pt-1-link-tagging/

    (My friends Robbin and Justin helped with this last answer – thanks guys!)

    -Avinash.

  66. 66

    Hello Avinash,

    First of all, I'm rather new to the web analytic world, in fact I've only being looking into it for the last few weeks, and rather intensely for the last few days. I'm currently finishing an MBA and as part of this I'm involved with a company (serious player in the internet travel industry) that I have to deliver a solution based on Google Analytics for their customers. That being said I've spent much of today absorbing this post, plus most of the links that branch off from it. I still however have to watch the video of you at the Googleplex. So thanks to you I have an much better understanding of the web-analytic world.
    OK,…now I have a few questions:

    1) Is it possible to use a Google Analytics account to benchmark multiple sites, (i.e. have different sites pointing to the same google analytics account)? Personally I can't see this, since it's based mainly on URL, but I see a definate plus if this was possible.

    2) If 1) is not possible, what would be the best way to extract data from GA to be able to benchmark multiple sites? It's not possible to feed data into GA from a separate source, i.e. an import feature, right? Are there any tools that could do this? Are there any limitations of the export from GA?

    3) Lastly, as most websites sitebuilder tools to create new webpages, it's not always possible to create specific landing pages to measure goals, are there any other ways to set goals up in GA to accommodate these new methods of website design/navigation? and is there any advancement on 4 goals per accounts?

    Thanks again for such an informative site, I've found it very useful and very educative.

    Regards,….phil

  67. 67

    I also do think this is a vital improvement to Google Analytics and it will provide much more insight into the data. Love to see more coming :)

  68. 68

    This is very interesting; I am hoping I'll be able to use it effectively. A couple of huge issues from my persective, get in the way of things…

    1) Is there any way to reset all the data? I have been tweaking my goals and it clearly takes a lot of work to get them right…same deal with filters…in the mean time, you accumulate a bunch of data that is inconsistent. I suppose I could just create a new profile, but isn't there some way to delete the past?

    2) similary…I wish we could reload the data somehow. I have all this useless historical data now because it was not filtered properly

    3) I wish goal conversion were limited to the defined funnel path. One of our goals is the logged in user profile page…so that's a conversion every time someone logs in…but it is not really. We cannot assume a goal has a unique endpoint that cannot be reached by some other process.

    4) Our whole site is dynamic. That means everything has to be done in terms of regular expressions. So this tool is not really configurable by non-technical people…and because we are mostly windows…it really means only a linux type person can really set things up effectively. I wish I had a way to better test the goals to confirm they are set up correctly instead of having to wait until the next day to see what new data loaded, then go parse through our log files to see if it is accurate or not.

    5) It would be great to have some kind of dynamic filter. 90% of our traffic is from random people who find the site, mistaking it for something else, and never log in. So our visitors and pageview numbers are wildly inflated. This skews everything.

  69. 69

    Thank you for your answer! It helped me a lot.

  70. 70

    It looks stunning

  71. 71

    The hourly stats are gone in the new version, and Google has informed me that they are "working on getting them in the new version."

    The main reason that was useful is not to check up on it every day and see how you're doing… Analytics shoudln't be used to see how you're doing, but to analyse information to act on things that will improve your site.

    Hourly visitors serve do things like concentrate your ppc budgets on peak hours, or whenever that once a year server maintenance comes along you choose a low traffic day and time. so that was a very useful and important tool that was lost in the new version.

    While there are some great new features, it's kind of dissapointing that this important basic feature was lost.

  72. 72
    Schumi says

    Hi all,

    I'm quite a newbe to this goggle analytics, but i've found something strange with this new art of design interface vs the old interface.

    The thing is that i keep gettin' different numbers for the two type of interface.

    4example:

    Old interface: Absolute Unique Visitors: 355
    New interface: Absolute Unique Visitors: 278 (same range applied offcourse) and an extra X-file 4me is that the new interface shows "278" Absolute Unique Visits, while at the end of the page is shows "287" visits (only one day applied)

    So any idea??
    Thnxxx in advance.

    ps: sorry 4 my english

  73. 73

    When selecting an indivdual time-frame for the report I keep getting an error from time to time. Probably this is a known bug?

  74. 74

    OK, it's full of features, but who needs so many information apart from the ones who actively use AdWords.

    What most website and blog owners wish to know is:

    – unique visitors (all time + today)
    – referrers
    – keywords used in search engines.

  75. 75
    Tofulover says

    Unlike Sitemeter, it appears that Google Analytics does not allow you to organize view data by individual visitor. For instance, it does not allow tracing an individual visitor's record through the site, establishing their entry and exit points, their isp, keywords, browser, etc. Am I missing something, or is this a large omission?

  76. 76

    Hi Avinash,

    First off, nive article. I am using Reinvigorate and Google Analytics on my site. Prior to GA V.2, I was noticing that they were tracking uniques and page views in roughly the same numbers, however after v.2 launched I noticed Google was giving me about double the traffic of Reinvigorate. Anyone else notice this?

  77. 77

    Avinash, is your book available in pdf format for paid download? Getting it via Amazon to India is time consuming and costly.

  78. 78

    I agree that version 2 of GA is wonderful. Is there a way to more easily drill down to the city-level dots on the geo map? The old version gave the city level info on the map at all zoom levels. Can't figure out if I'm missing something, but I miss that info.

    Thanks.

  79. 79

    This new version rocks, have used it now for a bit and can pull so much more knowledge out in less time.

    I'm much better able to identify which content works for me and which is underperforming.

  80. 80

    Great article and I love the product's new graphical interface. However, it appears not all functionality was transferred across to the new interface. For instance, I used to be able to extract the number and percentage off prior visitors to my site – as distinct from Visits. This was available under the Absolute Unique Visitors. I find that not having this information at my disposal now is quite disappointing. Assume this new interface will gradually incorporate the functionality from the previous version. Pretty graphics are good, but useful data is also good.

  81. 81

    I love the updates to analytics – however there are a couple of things I would like to see changed/ improved. I have written about them on my site – 5 Google Analytics things I would change

  82. 82

    Does anyone know if there is a creative way to get around the limit of four goals (conversation tracking) per web site? We have considered breaking down sections into separate profiles in Google or having forms share the same TY page, but these both aren't viable solutions. Any suggestions would be appreciated. :)

  83. 83

    I am currently working wirh the new version and I was wondering if there was anyway see the data summed up weekly??? I am a marketing intern and I don't have much experience with the software… thanks for all the tips above.
    Anne

  84. 84

    Hi Kaushik,
    I had not taken such a view at GA, but now I am determined to use GA and set new goals

    Vijay

  85. 85

    Avinash, great news. We using V1, new V2 UI is much more petty and we know nothing about 'path analysis' until we dig this!

  86. 86
    TarChri says

    Hi, I would like to know if anybody had same trouble trying to display the calendar on the new googleanalytics version? I have flash9, os is windows 2000 and iexplorer 6, so, …I guess I don´t know why I am having that much trouble, I never get to load the calendar… seems an script in the flash makes flash and my pc go slower so I finally have to cancel it… Please if anybody knows how to fix this… I will appreciate your help.

  87. 87

    Version 2 is without a doubt a significant upgrade to GA, and I love the work Google's highly talented UI designers have done.

    However, no matter how intutive the new UI is, it still doesn't change the fact that by implementing Google Analytics you WILL be sharing all your (typically) confidental digital business intelligence and user data with Google.

    What are they going to do with it? Google haven't said much about this, but will obviously use it to boost their display marketing division. But who knows where it will end up?

    That's why most digital marketing professionals (myself included) counsel their clients against implementing it.

    I would for one like to see more openness about it for, as another blogger reminded me: There is no such thing as a free lunch.

    / Weinreich

  88. 88

    I just released some C# code for extracting data from Google ANalytics & importing the data into SQL: http://blog.secondspace.com/google-analytics-data-extractor/

    Should fill one of those gaps until Google does anything natively.

    I would love to get any feedback from people.

  89. 89

    Does the 'navigation summary' report capture the transition from one page to another via a link that is embedded within flash?

    Thanks

  90. 90

    Excellent article thanks for the tips! :-)

  91. 91

    a gree to "Good web practices" – excellent article!

  92. 92
    flavacado says

    great post! Is there a way to pull up reports on Google Analytics so I can see the entrance links and exit links of a certain page? It appears that the navigation summary page on google analytics is quite limited because it's only giving me a partial list of all the entrance and exit links. As a result, I'm decided to look at the Entrance Path page instead- but I find that to be a bit confusing. I thought this report was supposed to list all the entrance links.. but it looks like it's listing exist links instead. I'd greatly appreciate any input anyone has on this- I haven't been able to find documentation on this on Google Analytics that would exactly answer my question. thanks!

  93. 93

    help – dummy newbie question. So I installed the tracking code on my wordpress (dot org, don't worry) blog and google analytics says it's peachy but…. there's NO data. I used the sitescan thing they recommended (EpikOne) which told me the code was "not installed on 17 of 17 pages. ummm, there's got to be a plug-in / template something for this right? Google even says so but I guess I need more of the 101 version for HOW to put the code on ALL my pages, cause … there are way more than 17 of them. help?

    thanks!!! glad to see your blog. i just subscribed.

  94. 94

    Thank you for the excellent article and the
    great tips!

  95. 95

    On this post you are talking many times about "context" and in your video you say "we must take actions based on context data"

    Excuse me, but I must be the most novice here, but what means "context" in google analytics?

    may be some one can answer me.

    thanks

  96. 96

    Rashid: Good question. I have covered "context" extensively on this blog. Perhaps your best source is this post:

    Context Is King Baby! Go Get Your Own.

    Hope this helps.

    Avinash.

  97. 97

    Hello Avinah.

    I have been studying you very deep, but seems that some this now are different, and one feature that I really like is the showed on this image:
    https://www.kaushik.net/avinash/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/google_analytics_v2_search_keyword_drill_down.jpg

    But I can`t see the option on my GA to see my "Conversion Rate", I only can see Goal 1 Conversion rate, goal 2 conversion rate… goal conversion rate.

    In this image:
    https://www.kaushik.net/avinash/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/google_analytics_v2_discover_data-2_sm-1.jpg

    I can see the option to check the Conversion Rate option, now in this place is the option "Goal conversion rate" is the same? or I`m doing something wrong or google don`t offer it any more?

    thanks

  98. 98

    Rashid: For the first question: In GA you'll see a graph at the top. Immediately on top left of that graph you'll see a Visits, as in this screenshot:

    Visits Graph In Google Analytics

    Now click on that, you'll now see options to switch the graph to any other metric you like, as here:

    Goal Conversion Rate in Google Analytics

    You will want to choose Goal Conversion Rate (assuming you have goals sent for your website).

    With regards to your second question, here's the latest screenshot:

    Goal Conversion Rate = Conversion Rate

    And you are right, it has been changed to Goal Conversion Rate (from Conversion Rate).

    It's the same thing. I think the team is trying to mess with your heads! :)

    Hope this helps.

    -Avinash.

  99. 99

    I know you always mention the power of the Site Overlay / Click Density tool in GA, but I've never been able to get it to work. We have a GA implementation consultant who also tells me this is not just our site but that it never works for any of their other customers as well. Do you know the secret in making it functional and actually report data? Or perhaps you know of another tool on the market i could use to supplement the Google Analytics click density tool?

  100. 100

    Kate: Site Overlay in Google Analytics can be quite iffy and does not work properly on many sites that use things like dynamic layers etc or, as in your case, the lightbox effect to show the videos on top of the page etc.

    The latter is a issue on many other tools as well but the former should not be the case. The team at Google needs to take a step back and rethink and rebuild the site overlay feature.

    From my humble experience I am a fan of the Site Overlay report, done right it can be the center of gleaning insights about content performance on any site.

    -Avinash.

  101. 101

    How do I customise GA to give me hourly tracking for all the different categories! Pls. give details.

  102. 102

    Is there any way to have "sub accounts" in GA?

    We have one as a District but what if the individual departments want their own analytics?

    I can't seem to find any info on GA's site.

    Thanks much,

    Stephen Stone
    District WebMaster
    Programmer III
    Web Dev Team Lead
    School District of Palm Beach County

Trackbacks

  1. […]

    More details about this release you’ll find here:

    * Official Analytics blog
    * Official Google blog

    Beside the official announcements, there is also a great post by Avinash Kaushik that guides you through five levels of exploration of the new Google Analaytics:

    1. Notice the awesome new data interaction model.
    2. Take the enhanced “data discoverability” for a spin.
    3. Context is king! Find your context quickly.
    4. Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away.
    5. Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email any report or dashboards, Better site overlay, Much nicer page level reporting and more.

    […]

  2. […] Jeffrey Veen mentioned earlier on Twitter that he was making a big announcement at the Emetrics summit, and there it is, Google has redesigned Analytics, here's a good little video intro to it and a great write up on the app here. […]

  3. […]

    Der erste Eindruck zeigt ein höchst intuitives Interface mit sehr komfortabler Handhabung auch des Kalenderinterface, der Zeitvergleiche und der Drilldown Möglichkeiten. Ausgereifte Drilldown und Segmentierungsmöglichkeiten, die befördern Google Analytics nun tatsächlich in (das Mittelfeld) der ersten Liga in Web Analytics, ein nicht unbedingt zu erwartender Aufstig aus der Spitzengruppe der Liga des unteren Preissegment. Vielleicht ein weiterer Schauplatz in dem Google wieder Gewinner gegen Microsoft bleibt? Ich bin jedenfalls höchst gespannt, wie die Antwort mit Gatineau aussehen kann.

    Avinash, wer sonst hat den derzeit besten Überblick und die umfassendste Zusammenfassung der neuen Features.

    […]

  4. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 Another good write-up on the new Google Analytics, including five things to do first. Google […]

  5. […]

    Today Google released a new version of their terrific analytics software. Version 2 is stated to not be a backend improvement (no new user data is captured) but entirely a reporting interface improvement.

    * Product tour in flash
    * Overview in a blog
    * FAQ

    The funny thing about this announcement is that I read it first on Jeff Veen’s blog. He’s formerly of Adaptive Path and now is a lead designer at Google. Watch the Flash demo and you’ll notice that the reports are for the AP site ;-) .

    […]

  6. […] mai 8th, 2007 Ca ne passionne pas tout le monde mais il faut bien causer bricolage et outillage de temps en temps. En l'occurence ceux qui se préoccupent de mesure d'audience apprécieront de savoir que Google lance la deuxieme version de son outil de mesure Google Analytics. Avinash Kaushik, consultant et spécialiste américain du sujet, présente les premières captures d'écran de la bête et commente les nouvelles caractéristiques.

    Miracle la nouvelle version semble plutôt ergonomique et accessible. Ce n’est pas un luxe quand on connait la complexité de ces outils. J’ai eu l’occasion d’en discuter il a près d’un an avec le patron d’Omniture qui édite un des outils de mesure les plus impressionnants du marché, SiteCatalyst. A mon avis le principal frein à l’implémentation de ces outils est désormais la difficulté d’exploiter les données. Ma politique personnelle consiste à ouvrir largement l’accès à ces outils dans l’entreprise mais la complexité devient parfois contre productive. Je pense aussi que la richesse des données est telle qu’elles en deviennent souvent inutiles car inxploitables sur le plan opérationnel. Dur pour un investissement de plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’euros.[…]

  7. Google Analytics Gets a Facelift…

    Google Analytics has come out with their first major refresh, integrating much of the functionality and interface features of MeasureMap, a previous acquisition, into the program.

    Avinash Kaushik has a quick summary of what to look for in the changes:

    1. Notice the awesome new data interaction model.
    2. Take the enhanced “data discoverability” for a spin.
    3. Context is king! Find your context quickly.
    4. Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away.
    5. Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email any report or dashboards, Better site overlay, Much nicer page level reporting and more.

    Good stuff. If you're really into web analytics, or at least need to be while figuring out what's the best solution for your company's sites, spend some time on Kaushik's blog. He's an analytics guru.

    Jeremiah Owyang recently sat down with Kaushik……

  8. […]

    Google Analytics Is Re-Launched #

    "Google announced the launch of Version 2 of Google Analytics today. Over the next few weeks Google will upgrade current GA users to the new version." — fantastic article on the latest version of analytics, that boosts some *very* cool features. (#)

    […]

  9. popxpop says:

    Google Analytics?????????????????????…

    ?????????Google????????????Google Analytics??????????????????

    ??????????????????????????????????????????????????……

  10. Google Analytics Looks Good; Google Accounts Don't…

    I've been working on a little side project (not quite ready for launch), and I recently came to the point where I need to pick a web analytics product. The project will, eventually, be supported by ads and so I care quite a bit about being able to track exactly how many visitors I have and what they're doing.

    Regular readers will recall that I've written a decent amount about web analysis software. On a regular basis, I use ClickTracks, Mint, and MeasureMap (all for different sites, in different contexts). None are exactly ideal for what I wanted here, but each is a decent option.

    Unlike at work, I think I'm comfortable with a hosted solution in this situation. But, I wanted some sort of notification system built in. I love MeasureMap's daily RSS feed, but it doesn't seem like many products have that sort of thing built in. Anyway, I started to do a little analysis of each of the likely candidates in the free/cheap market space.

    Then, today comes word that Google revised their Analytics product. And, even better, it was the team behind MeasureMap that did the work. Long story short, the revision looks great, and it made choosing to go with Google a no-brainer. This is really, really impressive work, from a UI perspective. For more details see: Google Blog, Jeff Veen, and Avinash Kaushik (the last one being a very in-depth look at the changes). Really, go check……

  11. […]

    Google has announced that they will upgrade Google Analytics (GA) users to the new version. The new interface introduces a neat and informative dashboard which have new graphs, data summaries and improved trending analyses complement navigational clarity and intuitive connections among related data. Graph points are much easier to click to drill down reports in greater detail. In addition to the new user interface, new key features have been added, such as email reports functionality, exporting into PDF, and geo-map drill down to zoom into certain location.There have been no changes to the amount of data that is tracked by Google Analytics, or to the configuration of your account. This is solely a reporting interface change. Every function currently available in Google Analytics should be available in the new interface. In fact, there will be more features and the new product will be even more powerful, including emailing reports and PDF download.

    Many accounts already have access to the new version. If your account does not yet have access, you won’t have to wait long. A notification by email will be sent once your account has been migrated.

    Here a few useful link you may want to see:
    Do This 5 Things First In V2

    […]

  12. […] My colleague Gregor pointed me out to some interesting news around Google Analytics: Apart from hiring tons of developers, Google has also hired/bought some fantastic designers. Jeffrey Veen (formerly of Measure Map) and his team have completely redesigned Google Analytics. The new version was unveiled today, though it will be a few more weeks until folks like us can actually give it a go. In the meantime, have a look at the most important features, described in this longish blog post. […]

  13. Google Analytics – take two…

    I've been a fan of Avinash Kaushik for a long time. His blog Occam's Razor is a must-read resource for anyone who is interested in Web Analytics – he has a knack for de-mystifying the tools, trends and approaches in…

  14. O3noBLOG says:

    Google Analytic ??…

    ?????Google Analytic???????????????????????????????????Kaushik????????????????????

    1. Notice the awesome new data interaction model. ???????/?????

    2. Take the enhanced ?data discoverability? for a spin. ??????????

    3. Context is king! Find your context quickly. ??????????????

    4. Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away. ???????????????…

  15. […] Avinash Kaushik writes a very detailed post about the new-look Google Analytics that is rolling out across accounts right now. […]

  16. […] Avinash hat einen ersten und sehr ausführlichen Bericht über Google Analytics V2 geschrieben in dem er zahlreiche Screenshots der neuen Oberfläche zeigt. Schaut es Euch einfach an, man erkennt Analytics kaum wieder. […]

  17. […] stuart The freshly launched Google Analytics v2 looks pretty good, certainly a worthy competitor to Mint, and it's free! There's some screen grabs Avinash Kaushik's site to feast your eyes upon until it becomes active for you – "Version 2 is so radically different and provides such a compelling value proposition to users of web analytics that I am excited to write a blog post about a product (the first time I have done this in 11 months of existence of this blog)." […]

  18. […] E ultima cosa, l’attivazione è graduale e non massiva. Significa che la nuova versione sarà attivata nelle prossime settimane ad alcune persone per volta, che verranno informate per email. Per un mese, comunque, potrete decidere di continuare a guardare i report nel vecchio formato.

    edit2, poi la smetto!: non sapete l’inglese, ok, allora guardate solo le figure di questo post :) […]

  19. Prometeo says:

    Google Analytics mit neuem Design und neuen Funktionen…

    Wie Google Operating System berichtet, hat Google Analytics ein neues Design das aber nicht für alle, auch für mich nicht, sichtbar ist.

    In seiner Pressemitteilung erklärt Google:

    With this new version, users can experience greater visibility of important data, clarity of appearance and more intuitive navigation paths. Utilizing more features and improved metrics, Google Analytics summarizes data and statistics in plain language so that website owners can make more informed decisions. The tool incorporates score cards and summaries that distill information into key performance indicator summaries,

    Das neue Design ist leider nur für ausgewählte User oder für die, die sich ab heute registrieren, sichtbar. Wer, wie ich, nicht warten will kann sich dieses Video angucken, oder sich den ausführlichen Bericht von Avinash Kaushik durchlesen.

  20. rkgblog says:

    Google Analytics, Version Two…

    Google relaunches Google Analytics.

    Google announcement here; Avinash Kaushik has a longer writeup.

    Cool sparklines.

    Much more than a facelift — well worth checking out.

    ……

  21. […] Google analytics krijgt een redesign – screenshots en een bespreking vind je bij Kaushik.net. […]

  22. […]

    Google Analytics, my favourite (free) web stats package is to undergo a major redesign. Hooray.

    This is fantastic news. I love Google Analytics, I think it’s a great piece of arsenal for any website but, I can fully appreciate that for new users it can be massively overwhelming.

    There’s a serious lack of blogs out there writing about it so, it’s difficult to send our clients anywhere to read up on Google Analytics. In fact, I often find it my job to talk clients through the process of signing up, logging in and trying to make sense of their stats – it’s a laborious task that I only mildy enjoy.

    Here’s hoping the new design (which you can see in this demo video) makes the software more intuitive.
    Further reading

    * Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2

    […]

  23. […] Received an e-mail that Google Analytics has been pimped with a graphical and structural update (“Google Analytics Beta” ). Looks nice I must say!(FYI: my account itself hasn't been updated yet, but the one we use at work has …).Update: Also see this extensive writeup. Spread the word! […]

  24. google analytics v2…

    Google is upgrading its popular (free) analytics package. The changes are mainly in the UI/reporting aspects of the product. Email and pdf are some other features. One can check out the flash demo or read about changes on this blog.
    ……

  25. […] If you're one of the lucky ones that have found their account already upgraded to the new interface, you'll find Avinash's step-by-step guide a great help. […]

  26. […] Google just relaunched their analytics tool with a bevvy of new features. While I dont' use Google Analytics, I think it is really interesting how powerful tools such as this are becoming increasingly available – for free – to the average web user. […]

  27. […] Je ne me suis jamais fait d’illusion, il n’est pas le seul à penser comme ça. Ça doit justifier le choix dans la majorité des cas même. C’est Google. Faut être débile pour s’y frotter, non? Je l’avoue candidement, je suis un peu débile, mais je m’aime comme ça.

    J’étais justement en pleine refonte graphique et technique de iMinR quand j’ai vu la nouvelle version de Google Analytics. Vraiment, la nouvelle version est très bien faite et je la trouve très belle. On peut en voir une bonne description sur ce billet de Avinash Kaushik.

    Alors que fait-on quand on est un p’tit con qui tente de se frotter à un géant qui à en plus le culot d’offrir son outil gratuitement? On essaie de jouer là où Google ne peut pas. Sur la personnalisation, le service, le contact presque intime avec le client. […]

  28. […]
    I tillegg, og til min store tilfredsstillelse er det mulig å kjøre mer detaljerte “drill-downs” på søkeord og trafikk kanaler med mer.

    Har du ikke annet enn Webalizer, AWstats eller rett og slett er på jakt etter et analyseverktøy anbefales Google Analytics på det aller varmeste – og det er helt gratis!

    * Introduksjon til webstatistikk og analyser
    * Få Google Analytics her
    * Les mer om hvordan du kan bruke Google Analytics her
    […]

  29. […] For more information, read Avinash Kaushik's post on Google Analytics V2 where he describes the 5 main improvements of GA V2: […]

  30. […] Even the recent announcement of a WordPress statistics plugin for self-hosted blogs couldn't rouse me from my blissful slumber. Why bother with all that pesky download, upload, configuration and activation nonsense wasting valuable time and effort when Google Analytics will probably be revamped with colourful dashboards and a usable interface tomorrow ? And so it came pass. Yet another triumph for apathy. […]

  31. […] Despre ultima versiune a Google Analytics – noutatile din ultima versiune a Google Analytics. Din pacate mie nu mi-a aparut inca ultima versiune. Cat de curand sper. […]

  32. […] I går presenterade google en ny version av analysverktyget Google Analytics. I version 2 finns bland annat mumsigheter som ett helt nytt, snyggare och smidigare gränssnitt, möjlighet till egendefinerade vyer och möjlighet att skicka schemalagda rapporter (som PDF, CSV, XML eller TSV) via email.

    Det ser helt klart trevligt ut, framför allt smidigt, hoppas man får sitt konto uppgraderat snart. Google kommer nämnligen uppdatera befintliga användares konton allt eftersom. Så har man tur så har man redan v2, annars kan det ta några veckor (runt två vad jag har hört).

    Läs mer på Analytics-utvecklaren Avinash Kaushik’s blogg (där det även finns en ansenlig mängd skärmdumpar). Det finns även en trevlig introduktionsvideo till den nya versionen. […]

  33. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 — Avinash Kaushik an analytics evangelist for Google says V2 is "radically different and provides such a compelling value proposition to users of web analytics". His blog post discusses new data interaction model, the enhanced data descoverability, features that help you get relevant context, improved segmentation, and number of other "upgraded goodies". […]

  34. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Occamâ

  35. […] pero sobre todo no dejes de leer el amplio reportaje que publica el nuevo "evangelista de Google Analytics" […]

  36. […] Well, he's been part of the team that has been redesigning Google Analytics. You can read about the whole new experience with Google Analytics to get an idea of what's changing. Or read a great overview from Avinash Kaushik. Avainash has a ton of screen shots of the new interface, highlighting a number of new features. Last thing, take a tour of Google Analytics new features and design – definitely worth watching. […]

  37. links for 2007-05-10…

    Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik And looks like it might be a pleasure to use, at the minute it is a bit like hunting for lost keys (tags: google……

  38. […] ReGoogled

    A quick post for my eMarketing friends like Mark, David, Darren, Mike, Phil and Jim ! Here is a great link with a step-by-step walkthru of the newly revised google analytics interface. It’s not camtasia VTC like I like to make but it is good static material !

    […]

  39. […] Occam’s Razor blog by Avinash Kaushik, an “independent consultant” and author of “Web Analytics, an hour a day”: Version 2 is so radically different and provides such a compelling value proposition to users of web analytics that I am excited to write a blog post about a product (the first time I have done this in 11 months of existence of this blog). […]

  40. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam?s Razor by Avinash KaushikLangzaam maar zeker is Google iedereen aan het overzetten naar Analytics v2.0… Wat zijn de belangrijkste nieuwigheden? […]

  41. […] Google Analytics wurde komplett überarbeitet. Die neuen Funktionen sehen echt nett aus. Vorher war das Interface ja eigentlich unbenutzbar. Auch wenn es auf der Login-Seite schon groß angepriesen wird, sieht meins leider immer noch genau so aus wie immer Beitrag hinzufügen bei: […]

  42. […] We were planning on doing a post covering some of the changes Google had made to its Analytics software. But then I stumbled upon a post by Avinash Kaushik that blows anything we could have done out of the water.

    It’s a great look at the new version complete with a ton of step-by-steps, screenshots, and notes along the way. A nice, solid post that’s certainly worth your time… whether you’re a new Analytics user or an old veteran.

    Thanks for posting this, Avinash.[…]

  43. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik Google Analytics, nieuwe versie. Mmm. (tags: google analytics statistics googleanalytics stats) […]

  44. […]

    Bem… como a maioria deve saber o google analytics lançou uma nova versão, que para muitos já está disponibilizada… Enfim…

    Esse post não é sobre os milagres, maravilhas ou desgraças que o lançamento se relaciona (pelo que já usei, tá mto massa a parada einh…), mas sim pra indicar um post no blog de um dos caras que desenvolveu a tal nova versão… Mais sobre isso no Googleblog e no blog de um dos outros caras do g.analytics (Avinash Kaushik)…

    […]

  45. […] En el blog de Sonicko leo una interesante entrevista con Avinash Kaushik, seguramente el candidato a destronar a Eric T. Peterson como gurú de web analytics (¿o debiera decir evangelista de google analaytics?)

    Especialmente interesante es la respuesta de Avinash a esta pregunta: […]

  46. […] Her er denne (og forrige) ukes viktigaste lenker:

    * Sjekk ut Google Analytics v2 (og 5 tips for å komme i gang) […]

  47. […]

    Early this week Google updated the Analytics features and user interface. I’m still getting used to the new look, but I’ve been liking what I see so far and think the changes are for the better. If the update hasn’t hit your account yet you can still get a peak at what’s to come as most of the links below offer screen shots while offering opinions on the changes. And once the new interface does find your account be sure to take a look at what Avinash thinks you should do first with Analytics version 2.

    * First Look – Google Analytics Launches New Interface and Reporting
    * New Release of Google Analytics
    * Google Analytics Launches New Version With New UI & Features
    * Google Analytics Releases New Version With Sleek New User Interface
    * Google Analytics Sports a New Look
    * Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2

    […]

  48. […] A few days ago Steve pointed me at New Google Analytics tour and I signed myself up to check out its user interface. Phil also pointed me at Jeffrey Veen’s post on his work, which led me to Avinash Kaushik’s comprehensive overview post.

    It’s well worth checking out the user interface yourself. If you have a gmail account and want to try it out without setting it up, I am happy to give you an access to my reports for your “wow” experience. Please contact me from here.[…]

  49. ??????????? says:

    Google…

    Google ???????? ???? ????…

  50. […] Partea bun? este c? lucrurile se vor schimba. În cele din urm? cei de la Google Analytics ?i-au plecat urechea ?i au con?tientizat c? î?i prinzi urechile c?utând o anumit? informa?ie a?a c? interfa?a veche (exemplificat? mai sus) a fost complet rescris?. Partea proast? este c? schimb?rile nu sunt vizibile imediat, deci nu v? pot oferi capturi cu noua configura?ie. Dar se pare c? dac? v? deschide?i acum un cont, el va fi direct cu noua interfa??. Pentru cei care folosesc de mai mult timp Google Analytics… trebuie doar r?bdare. Cândva în urm?toarele s?pt?mâni va sosi un email care va anun?a c? interfa?a a fost schimbat?. Ionu? indic? acest sit unde sunt multe capturi cu noua interfa??. De acolo îmi permit s? "?utesc" o imagine demonstrativ? (mai multe pute?i vedea urmând link-ul anterior). […]

  51. […] To listen, either click the Play button or download the MP3. This functionality requires a browser that supports in-line frames.– Download the MP3 — I've had only a few minutes with the new version myself since then, and hope to share some more thoughts soon. There is extensive coverage from other bloggers, including a pretty detailed look from Avinash Kaushik. UPDATE: Full round-up of coverage is here. […]

  52. The new Google Analytics reviewed…

    I’ve been using Google Analytics for a while, and was absolutely thrilled to hear they were upgrading the services. After waiting with bated breath for a few days, my account was upgraded. After a quick look-over, here’s my take on it.

    The new user interface is lovely! Don’t think Google is only good at back end stuff. They’re catching up with Yahoo! in this area (though a lot more can be done to dress up their Gadgets to……

  53. […]

    ??????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???????? ?????

    ????? ????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ?????.

    ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ?????

    ?? ???…

    ??? ??? ????? ???? ?????????
    ?? ???…??? ????? ??? ???? ??????,

    ????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?????????

    ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ??????????? ?????? ???????????, ????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ??.

    ??? ??? ??????? ??????? ?????, ??? ?? ????? ????? ???? (????? ???) ?? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ??? (??? ?????? ?? ???????).

    ????? ?????..

    […]

  54. […] New version of Google Analytics. Google unveiled an updated version of Google Analytics at the Emetrics Summit this week. It looks like most of the changes are in the reporting and user interface, including changes to make it easier to customize the dashboard. Avinash Kaushik explains the five analysis exercises you should do first to start taking advantage of the new capabilities. Juice Analytics likes it too, especially the use of everyday language and the speed. […]

  55. […] Google is doing all kinds of updates these days, they rolled out the new Google Analytics last week. Occam's Razor had a great post on a lot of the new features, check it out. […]

  56. […] In today's ONElist e-mail newsletter, which tends to be full of very well chosen resources that I think are also of super relevance to African organizations, I learned that Google has upgraded its free Google Analytics service: We've long recommended Google Analytics as a great, free, powerful tool for tracking your website statistics. In early May, Google raised the bar again, launching a major upgrade to Google Analytics, featuring a slick new user interface and vastly improved features for slicing and dicing data and making comparisons across time and between sections of your site. Avinash Kaushik offers an enthusiastic rundown, and if you don't already have a Google Analytics account, you can sign up now! […]

  57. […] If you’re a Google Analytics user, you’ll know that the interface has been updated. It’s now more Googley. I’m not going to go into depth reviewing it – I’m sure everyone will find out if they like it or not themselves. My impression, after a few days using it, is – I really like what they’ve done with it. I found the old interface was clunky and obscure, whereas Google have introduced clarity. The information most people want is now front and center, and if you want complexity, you can dig deeper. Previously, I found it difficult to get a snapshot overview. Here’s a collection of other bloggers reviews and impressions: * Mashable: “27 Features That Make Google Analytics Best of Breed…“ * Occam’s Razor: “Here are the five things you should do the first time you log into GA V2:….“Occam's Razor: "Here are the five things you should do the first time you log into GA V2:…." […]

  58. […] WordPress.com bloggers are sharing a multi-user blogging platform. Only one Google urchin script can be run on a any site at any time and WordPress already runs Google analytics on our blogs. This means Google analytics are a “no go” for wordpress.com bloggers; those who want this feature can move to self hosting or hiring a webhost and downloading a free blog template from http:wordpress.org as they run on different software.

    Avinash Kaushik offers an enthusiastic rundown. -> […]

  59. […] The amount of data that is recorded by Google Analytics and is therefore made available through the interface is vast, which makes both the information architecture and user experience of this interface critical to the software’s success.

    For SME businesses I would thoroughly recommend considering implementing Google Analytics into your site, especially if you currently have no user friendly and multi-leveled way of accessing statistics to your site visitor behaviour.

    There is already significant articles on the subject of the new Google Analytics interface, so rather than re-inventing the wheel below are links to my most relevant and useful articles reviewing the new interface:

    Avinash Kaushik, an independent consultant and now working for Google as an Analytics Evangelist, provides his view on the 1st 5 things you should do when using v2 […]

  60. […] Google Analytics has done a massiveupdate to this already absurdly killer tool. […]

  61. […]

    Google Analytics is the biggy for stat’s! Heidi found this & set it up. I was used to looking at the stat’s and then they switched to a new version which I haven’t had time to learn. So here is an overview of the options – and I warn you it’s comprehensive!

    But if you do nothing else, I suggest you get this one for sure. There are some very cool features that I like are seeing the following:

    – where your visitors are from

    – what sites your visitors are coming from

    – what they searched for to get to your site (keywords are so important as you tag & write more posts)

    – trends in numbers of visitors, how long they were there, how many pages they viewed

    – and the list goes on to languages, browsers, etc

    […]

  62. […] If you haven't checked it out yet, Google Analytics has undergone a major renovation. Simply put, it's brilliant. Read the Google Analytics Evalgelist blog and take the Analytics tour.The new UI looks great, Google did a good job intergrating the MeasureMap code ever since Google purchased Measure Map from Adaptive Path. […]

  63. […] The visual changes a appealing to the eyes, the sleek flash interface. Jeff Veen is running Google user experience design and has been working on the project. Since Google bought Measure Map they have been busy working on this new version.

    I’m always one to enjoy were my viewers are coming from and now by clicking on geographic locations you can drill down to State or Provence, Very cool.

    Take a tour and see the changes.

    Related Sites: Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 Google Analytics Read a Case Study […]

  64. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik Notice the awesome new data interaction model, Take the enhanced “data discoverability” for a spin, Context is king! Find your context quickly, Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away, Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email any report or dashboards, B (tags: analytics google googleanalytics stats web) […]

  65. […] Over time you can explore more goodies, but the basics are listed right here and the basics are pretty powerful and free. (They do have additional functionality for a fee, but I haven't needed it.) For many new bloggers, Feedburner will give you everything you need in terms of tracking. If you want more tracking capabilities, head over to Google Analytics. Here is a guide to Google Analytics if you are interested. Conclusion RSS is a powerful technology that benefits both readers and publishers of content. Do take the time to explore this. You will be glad that you did. Once you become a big Google Reader user, I have a guide on how to keep Google Reader from eating up all your time. […]

  66. […] Earlier this week, Google updated their popular Analytics front-end to give it a much prettier interface and more intuitive functions. Not everyone had access to it, but as of today, it is now available to everyone!

    If you haven’t checked it out yet, log in and take a look. If you aren’t using Analytics… well you should! In my opinion, it is the best web stats program out there and probably better than anything your web host offers (although it requires you to put a small snippet of code in your footer).

    Take the official feature tour or read what these bloggers are saying about version 2!

    EpikOne – Welcome to the New Google Analytics

    Avinash Kaushik – Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First in V2 […]

  67. Biznology says:

    The New Google Analytics…

    I held off writing about the new version of Google Analytics because my Web site's statistics had not been converted to the new stuff yet. Now it has. My first take—this is a huge improvement

    I held off writing about the new version of Google Analytics because my Web site's statistics had not been converted to the new stuff yet. Now it has. My first take—this is a huge improvement.

    Unless I am missing something (entirely possible), I think the numbers are mostly the same. What's changed is the design and the visualization of the user interface.

    As someone who worked with some fantastic designers while at ibm.com, I have to say that Google has outdone itself. The look has just enough visualizations and has done a much better job with typography—the numbers are big and bold to really stand out.

    My experience with user interface changes is that it is typical for them to be received skeptically or even negatively at first, even when they eventually prove to be well-founded. Many people just like what they are used to, rather than having to deal with a change that requires relearning tasks they already know.

    But this change just seems too good. I was used to the old interface but this one immediately felt more comfortable, even though it is new……..

  68. […] I must confess I was tracking a couple of websites with Analytics but didn’t go there to check statistics, I could hardly find what I was looking for. I was using a much simpler service (statcounter) to get some basic data (pageviews, visitors and referrers).Not anymore. Google Analytics is serving me much better now.Some useful related links

    Google’s official announcement
    Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2Some useful related links Google's official announcement Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 What I've been working on: The New Google Analytics […]

  69. […] Ok, so maybe I'm a little behind the times – but tonight I just received an email from the Google Analytics crew that my account had been upgraded to the new beta version. My account wasn't upgraded until a week or so after the first bloggers started writing about it, so I had already seen a preview of what was in store for me, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The current version of Google Analytics was in desperate need of an overhaul. The beautifully crafted interfaces for Gmail, Google Reader and Google Calendar were nowhere to be found in their Analytics application, so this was a welcome (and long overdue) upgrade. Let me just start by saying that the new Analytics interface ROCKS! It is everything that we have come to expect from the fine folks at Google, and allows much easier access to the statistics we care the most about. The menus are much more intuitive than in the past, and the interface is nothing short of beautiful.[…]

  70. […] Avinash Kaushik has done an awesome job of digging and reviewing the key benefits of using Google's new tool. Check out his review of the second generation Google Analytics, and get ready to make optimizing your blog marketing infinitely easier. BTW – I’m happy to say that Goolge Analytics is built right into BLOG interactive360™; so if you like what you see, know that we’ve made running Google’s powerful free analytics program pushbutton easy with the BLOG i360™ system. […]

  71. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 (tags: analytics Blogging recommendations googleanalytics) […]

  72. […]

    Google launched its new version of Google Analytics recently. Accounts have been starting to get updated over the last couple of days. Avinash Kaushik wrote a nice account with screenshots at: Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 so I'll just leave it short here and mention my findings:

    + No more all flash!!! You can *actually* use the back button in most places now.
    + Time on site / Viewing times – They may have been there before but I never found them.
    – Where did the monthly options go? I can now only view the data by day.
    – It would be nice to have a quick way to select time frames, like in AdWords (Current month, previous month, Last 30 days etc.)
    – I would like to see absolute number of conversions. I’m not interested in a 100% conversion rate from a referrer if they only sent one visitor. I would like to switch between the two and if am adding things to the wish list anyway. It would be nice to be able to set a minimum level. Say at least 10 conversions before they count the conversion rates.
    – There are still some bugs: For a number of referrer sending more than 500 visitors I couldn’t see the referrer breakdowns. Then when I looked again they where there. And then they disappeared again. And then they where there again… – I think you get the message.

    I left out most positives since Avinash already mentioned them and which would make it seem there are more negatives then positives, but be assured my overall impression of the new and improved Google Analytics is very positive. Google Analytics is definitely a 2.0 that works for me.

    […]

  73. […] Diseñando el proceso de cambio

    Los cambios, siempre son difíciles. Somos animales de costumbre, y cuando nos sentimos cómodos con algún patrón, los pequeños cambios pueden ser traumáticos. Si no se diseña el proceso de un cambio, los resultados pueden ser catastróficos, como lo que sucedió el año pasado con Facebook.

    Con Analytics se tomaron las precauciones del caso. Mal que mal, el sistema tiene usuarios desde antes de que fuera adquirido por Google. Un cambio de estas proporciones sin un plan adecuado habría resultado en un completo desastre.

    Por esta razón, los diseñadores encabezados por JeffreyVeen (el ex Adaptative Path), decidieron dejar en manos del usuario decidir si usa la nueva versión de la aplicación o si mantienen la antigua mientras se convence/adapta a la nueva interfaz, haciendo la transición más fácil. De esta forma, no se coloca al usuario en un situación difícil, frente a una decisión dramática e irreversible: puedes optar por usar una, y si no te sientes cómodo, cambiar a la anterior.

    ¿La nueva o antigua interfaz?

    En suma, Analytics se ha ganado un punto al mejorar uno de los aspectos más críticos en una aplicación, la interfaz, haciéndola simple y usable.
    Enlaces de interes

    * Google Analytics
    * Blog oficial de Analytics
    * What I’ve been working on: The New Google Analytics
    * 27 Features That Make Google Analytics Best of Breed
    * Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 […]

  74. […] As you may have read elsewhere, Google Analytics has just rolled out a substantial redesign/retooling of their free site statistics package – and at first glance, it looks like a major step forward. Of course, that could just be due to the previous version’s design making the app feel a little overwhelming – chalk one up for the benefit of good design!

    For more details on the new Analytics, read what Jeff Veen and Avinash Kaushik have to say about the relaunch. Google Analytics 2.0 […]

  75. […] And I totally agree! Avinash Kaushik of Occam's Razor says: Here are the five things you should do the first time you log into GA V2: Summary:

    1. Notice the awesome new data interaction model.
    2. Take the enhanced “data discoverability” for a spin.
    3. Context is king! Find your context quickly.
    4. Ahh…. Segmentation is just a step away.
    5. Upgraded goodies: Schedule and email any report or dashboards, Better site overlay, Much nicer page level reporting and more.

    And I am absolutely going to listen to HIS advice!

    The new version of Google Analytics is totally insane (that’s a good thing). As a search engine marketer, I rarely accessed the Google Analytics console. For me, it was nothing but a group of pretty pictures and graphs, some interesting numbers telling me from where in the world my visitors were coming from, and how long they were staying there. Google Analytics, for me, didn’t provide any information that I could take away and make any major changes.[…]

  76. […] Jak pewnie wszyscy wiedz? niedawno pojawi?a si? nowa wersja Google Anlytics. Do?? sporo pisa? o tym Avinash Kaushik, Justin z EpikOne, w Polsce informacj? o tym podawa? Tomasz Frontczak. Z tej okazji postanowi?em stworzy? krótki videocast, który pokazuje t? aplikacj? od praktycznej strony, tzn na co powinno si? zwróci? uwag? nawet przy podstawowej analizie witryny w Google Analytics.

    Stara?em si?, aby videocast nie by? zbyt d?ugi, wiec nie wchodzi?em za bardzo w szczegó?y. Z tego wzgl?du osobom, które s? ju? bardzo zaawansowane w web analytics informacje podane w video mog? si? wyda? zbyt ogólne i podstawowe. […]

  77. […] Jak pewnie wszyscy wiedz? niedawno pojawi?a si? nowa wersja Google Anlytics. Do?? sporo pisa? o tym Avinash Kaushik, Justin z EpikOne, w Polsce informacj? o tym podawa? Tomasz Frontczak. Z tej okazji postanowi?em stworzy? krótki videocast, który pokazuje t? aplikacj? od praktycznej strony, tzn na co powinno si? zwróci? uwag? nawet przy podstawowej analizie witryny w Google Analytics.Stara?em si?, aby videocast nie by? zbyt d?ugi, wiec nie wchodzi?em za bardzo w szczegó?y. Z tego wzgl?du osobom, które s? ju? bardzo zaawansowane w web analytics informacje podane w video mog? si? wyda? zbyt ogólne i podstawowe. […]

  78. Reseña de Google Analytics v2…

    Detallada reseña de la nueva versión de Google Analytics. Como sabemos, la nueva versión de Google Analytics fue lanzanda hace unas tres semanas. Esta reseña ilustrada de Avinash Kaushik cubre con detalle las novedades del excelente servicio de Goo…

  79. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik […]

  80. Jeffrey Veen says:

    What I've been working on: The New Google Analytics…

    It's been well over a year since Google bought Measure Map and I left Adaptive Path. And wow, have we been busy. The problem is, though, that whenever someone would ask me what we've been up to, all I could do is smile and say, "Oh, just wait."

    Well, the waiting is finally over – we can talk about what we've been working on all this time. Today, a completely redesigned version of Google Analytics is launching, bringing a lot of the simplicity and data visualization techniques we learned building Measure Map to a whole new scale. This was some of the toughest design work I've ever tackled, and I'm immensely impressed with well our team worked together, especially Greg Veen, Ryan Carver, and Douglas Vander Molen.

    I wrote more about the redesign over on the Google Blog, and my colleague Avinash Kaushik has written a fantastic and comprehensive overview on his blog…….

  81. Google Analytics Tutorial: Version 2…

    Google Analytics 2.0 has some great upgrades. The best ones, though, center around easier data exploration and discovery. Avinash has some great pointers, and I've finally done an video tutorial about it: Online Videos by Veoh.com You might want to ke…

  82. […] Kaushik is the also the author of the book Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, published by Wiley.

    This free service just keeps getting better and our discussion highlighted a couple features that I was not that familiar with and I consider myself a bit addicted.

    1) Site Overlay – Pick a page and the tool will show you link by link click rates on a copy of your actual page. This type of visual really drives home user patterns.

    2) Goals – Setting up paths that you want users to take and then tracking how they get to and take a desired action or goal.

    If you’re just getting started or want to know more about how to V2 read this article: Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2

    If you're just getting started or want to know more about how to V2 read this article: Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 […]

  83. […] For those of you who don’t know what Google Analytics is, it is a free system that will tell you a lot about what’s happening on your website – where people are coming from, and what they do once they’re on your site.

    If you are using already another package, you should already understand the benefits of analytics, and there’s no reason you can’t run several. There are also good reasons that Google analytics should be one of them.

    If you’re not using any other analytics package, Avinash Kaushik has a great introduction to what it offers, but today I’m not trying to convince you on analytics grounds. I’m trying to convince you as a manager or member of a web team.The “non analytics” reasons why should you be using Google Analytics on your website:

    1. As the most high profile of the free analytics packages, a number of people on a web team may have had exposure to Google Analytics before. This number will only increase from here on in. This will give you access to a level of experience in your team that you wouldn’t have with another package. […]

  84. […] The face of the whole tracking market changed when Google purchased Urchin and started offering Google Analytics, now in its 2nd version for free. Personally we find the latest version of Analytics great and the new features it offers to be highly comprehensive. We use Google Analytics to great effect. You can explore these new features by doing 5 cool things in Google Analytics version 2 by Avinash Kaushik. […]

  85. […] Nowa wersja ma by? bardziej czytelna i b?dzie umo?liwia?a m.in. otrzymywanie okresowych raportów wygenerowanych w formie plików PDF. Brzmi zach?caj?co.

    Wi?cej screenów mo?na zobaczy? na google.bajo.pl. Wi?cej informacji – na stronie http://www.kaushik.net.   […]

  86. […] For the screen shots I will be using Google Analytics. It's free and powerful, and they have just improved their interface drastically. You can read more about Google Analytics here.

    You need to decide how many days you are going to analyse. You can get very accurate statistics by looking at just one day, but you risk jumping to conclusions. I normally look at the last week. […]

  87. […] Lengthy post from kaushik.net about new Google Analytics version […]

  88. […] Want to know how to get started off on the right foot with the new Google Analytics? Check out Avinash Kaushik's blog post. […]

  89. […] Google Analytics has new functions and fillings, the second version is more web2.0 application. I still waiting for upgrading, but friend of mine already have had upgrade. It’s look nice, has more functionality and Avinash Kaushik made great description of it […]

  90. […] Google Analytics gets better; and Google's market share keeps growing — A new version gives you slicker visuals and easier insights into your traffic trends. Best part, it's still free. Details here. Separately, see graphic at bottom for the latest stats on Google's market share for search. […]

  91. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 » Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik Here are the five things you should do the first time you log into GA V2: (tags: analytics Google analysis webanalytics metrics behavioural tools) […]

  92. […]
    Yesterday, I attended a session concerning measuring success on your website. There were three speakers. The first we very informative be also very fast. The second, I think was trying to pitch an analytical software called ominture (which i used at my last job). The common toungue of each speaker stressed the way (method) of collecting the number. Lucky for us they also offered links to theories on using the numbers. It sometimes is hard for upper management to understand what all the numbers represent. Here are some nifty links to these theories.

    i. bethkanter.org
    ii. beth.typepad.com
    iii. web-strategist.com
    iv. http://www.kaushik.net
    v. Social Media Metrics
    […]

  93. […] I wrote more about the redesign over on the Google Blog, and my colleague Avinash Kaushik has written a fantastic and comprehensive overview on his blog. […]

  94. […] Even the recent announcement of a WordPress statistics plugin for self-hosted blogs couldn't rouse me from my blissful slumber. Why bother with all that pesky download, upload, configuration and activation nonsense wasting valuable time and effort when Google Analytics will probably be revamped with colourful dashboards and a usable interface tomorrow ? And so it came pass. Yet another triumph for apathy. […]

  95. […] How to find those information? Your Apache access log! If you want to visualize it, try Google Web Analytic Tool. Avinash has written a nice article to walk you through the V2 of this tool. Take a look and see what information it provides that you cannot find it from access log. […]

  96. […] Jak pewnie wszyscy wiedzą niedawno pojawiła się nowa wersja Google Anlytics. Dość sporo pisał o tym Avinash Kaushik, Justin z EpikOne, w Polsce informację o tym podawał Tomasz Frontczak. Z tej okazji postanowiłem stworzyć krótki videocast, który pokazuje tę aplikację od praktycznej strony, tzn na co powinno się zwrócić uwagę nawet przy podstawowej analizie witryny w Google Analytics.Starałem się, aby videocast nie był zbyt długi, wiec nie wchodziłem za bardzo w szczegóły. Z tego względu osobom, które są już bardzo zaawansowane w web analytics informacje podane w video mogą się wydać zbyt ogólne i podstawowe. […]

  97. […]
    The service allows webmasters to:

    See pie charts and maps that show who is sending traffic and what part of the world (on a city level) visitors are coming from.
    See several different reporting categories: Executive; Marketer; Webmaster; Marketing Optimization; Content Optimization.
    Integrate the information with AdWords that allows ROI reporting
    See visitor trending
    Some reports say the breadth of information available through Google Analytics can be overwhelming, so there may be a bit of a learning curve for full benefits.

    Kaushik.net has a comprehensive (exhaustive) review.
    […]

  98. […]
    Ngoài ra, có thể tham khảo thêm hướng dẫn sử dụng chi tiết GA ở các nguồn sau:

    Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2.
    Analytics on the Cheap: Six Free Stats Packages for the Startup or Small-Business Owner.
    Note: Các thống kê này có thể áp dụng cho blog, forum, website, …

    Ví dụ và phân tích
    Dựa vào các biểu đồ trong mục Executive Overview, ta có thể xác định xem số người quay trở lại website, cách thức user đến với website (link, google, … ), vùng nào có lượng user lớn nhất, lượng truy cập theo ngày, …
    […]

  99. […] Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2 […]

  100. […]
    Check out this really useful article about Google Analytics:

    https://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2007/05/google-analytics-is-re-launched-do-these-five-things-first-in-v2.html

    What would we do without Google? No one will even know…..
    […]

  101. […]
    Some reports say the breadth of information available through Google Analytics can be overwhelming, so there may be a bit of a learning curve for full benefits.

    Kaushik.net has a comprehensive (exhaustive) review.

    Compete Search Analytics
    […]

  102. […]
    Some reports say the breadth of information available through Google Analytics can be overwhelming, so there may be a bit of a learning curve for full benefits.

    Kaushik.net has a comprehensive (exhaustive) review.

    Compete Search Analytics
    […]

  103. […]
    Google Analytics is easy to install, as it’s just a simple snippet of code that Google will provide to you. One tip: You might want to install your code at the bottom of every page and template so that it doesn’t slow down (or prevent) the loading of the page if Google’s servers are having a bad day.
    You can learn more about Google Analytics by taking the tour, reading the Official Google Analytics blog, or trying out these 5 things.
    […]

  104. […]
    You can also view Google’s evolution using its interactive timeline or this infographic on the Digital History of Google from Search Engine Journal. Image Credits: Fig 1. Source;
    […]

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