• by Phil Leggiere , January 24, 2006

Google makes the complicated simple and the arcane accessible. And as it did so well with search, the company has set its sights on the world of Web analytics. The recently launched Google Analytics, formerly a stand-alone product from Urchin which was acquired by Google, offers free tools for which advertisers and media planners once paid thousands of dollars a year.

Google Analytics tracks and analyzes site traffic by installing simple codes on a Web site, giving publishers and advertisers the ability to analyze where customers are coming from and what they're doing on the site once they get there. A simple dashboard interface allows marketers to evaluate which tactics are working and which aren't. For example, the interface shows keywords, display ads, or links that are attracting visitors, indicates elements of the Web design that are keeping customers online and helping facilitate sales, as well as showing whether e-mail offers are performing. In addition, Google Analytics accounts can be linked with a client's AdWords accounts.