• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 29, 2011

Google has launched a real-time analytics tool that identifies the number of visitors to a specific page on a Web site. The new tool -- Google Analytics Real-Time-makes it easy for Web site owners to see the content visitors click on as it happens. Previously, Google's tools delivered delays in past performance traffic results.

Forrester Research Senior Analyst Joe Stanhope said Google's upgrade now competes with analytics offerings from Adobe, IBM, and Webtrends. Traditional Web analytics packages allow marketers to track visitors on Web sites, where they go and when they leave, but Google's tool turns delayed responses into instant stats. "The tool allows companies to see what part of the Web site does well and the keywords that drive traffic," he said.

Companies have been building out data-related tools to track Web site visitors in real-time. Digital marketing platform provider IgnitionOne offers a similar real-time tracking analytics tool that offers insights through data to help media buyers adjust attribution modeling strategies. A dashboard shows in real-time how visitors move through the site, what content they download or products purchased. The product offers cross-channel attribution reporting and optimization, media mix modeling, and audience insights.

Google also launched a premium version of Google Analytics, available to clients willing to pay a subscription price of $150,000 annually, available in U.S., Canada and Britain. Through the tool, clients can track billions of clicks monthly. Paying for the package gets clients 24-hour customer services, increased processing power and modeling tools that let users take a deeper look into return on ad spend for search, social and display.

Google Analytics Premium was developed with insight from large clients. During our pilot phase, the company worked with Gucci, Travelocity, TransUnion, eHarmony and others.

Last month Google launched Multi-Channel Funnels for the standard version of Google Analytics, to give marketers more visibility into the full path to conversion that customers take, according to a Google spokesperson. The new attribution modeling tools build on that by allowing clients to test different models for assigning credit to conversions.