Google introduced a new version of Google Analytics today, filled with new features to make analysts and marketers drool.
Included in this new release is:
- New and Improved Goals (20 goals per profile and new ‘threshold’ goals based on pageviews and time on site)
- New mobile tracking
- Table Filtering (a way to quickly filter data in a report)
- Unique Visitor Segmentation (Unique Visitors is now a metric and can be added to custom reports)
- Multiple custom variables (an evolution of Custom Segmentation, wicked awesome!)
- Analytics Intelligence (automatic data analysis. And yes, it is as cool as it sounds!)
- Analytics Alerts (customizable alerts based on your data rules)
NOTE: Links above are to individual posts.
There are also a couple previously announced features that have FINALLY made it into the product, including:
- Sharing custom reports and advanced custom segments
- Pivoting data and segmenting with a secondary dimensions
I must say, this release is very cool. Google has listened to users and included some of the most requested features. 20 goals, automatic alerts, more custom variables… We’ve been hearing/making these requests for years!
One thing I think people will ignore is that many of these features represents dramatic improvements in the GA system. While these features have a definite ‘wow’ factor they provide a solid foundation for future enhancements.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that I usually blast out as many posts as possible to explain the new features. Today is no different.
Because there are some many people blogging about GA, I’m going to be a bit selective and cover the topics that I don’t think will get much attention or that I just really like :)
So click away! Let’s all explore these cool new features together!
Is everyone seeing these new features today or is it being rolled out slowly?
I am not seeing them for some of my GA accounts.
Hi Jaan,
The new features will start to roll out soon, I believe tomorrow. it can take a few weeks for the features to reach your account. If you’re at eMtrics you can swing by the Google booth and sign up for access.
Justin
truly amazing features ….I see that we need not have to think of using omniture if google continues to add features like this over the period of time :)
Love the hat ;-)
Thanks for he heads up — should be great.
@IMGuru: Google came to the web analytics party a little late, so they have a lot of catchup to do. But it’s good to see them rolling out lots of features on a regular basis.
@Julien: HA! I love that hat, it’s really soft. And it’s cold up here in Vermont!
Thanks to all for the comments.
Thanks for the info.
Not seeing it yet in the UK but I’m sure it’ll be here soon.
I agree with Julien, nice hat ;)
they look like great and powerful additions – but still no downloads tracking out of the box!
@Jon: I know! That features announced in 2007 and it’s still not there! That is a fundamental thing that every analytics tool should do. Oh well, maybe in 2010.
That is truelly great news, and I am enjoying working with it already. As always you find things that is possible to improve, but I hope it will be done soon. As an example it is a shame that you can’t email the automized intelligence reports.
I have a question about the system, I hope you a little insight in. What are the comparison period for the different reports? Fx the daily alerts, is it compared to the day before, the same day of week the previus week, or the same date the month before? And is the month compared to the month before, or the same month last year?
Keep up the good work of writing :-)
@Jacob: I’ve got a post on the Intelligence system that I will get out this weekend. But, in general, the system creates a predicted value based on past data. Then it compares the actual value to the predicted value. If the actual is off by a certain amount then you get an Intelligence alert. I’ll be a bit more thorough in my post.
Thanks for the question,
Justin