Google acquired Urchin all the way back in 2005. It seems like an eternity ago. “In 2005 we acquired Urchin, whose online web analytics product became the foundation for Google Analytics, helping businesses of all sizes measure their websites and …

Google announced the addition of non-interaction events to its set of event tracking metrics. “”But wait!’ you ask, ‘How can an event-which measures user interaction-be non-interactive? And why would I want that anyway?,” says Patricia Boswell of the Google Analytics …

Google is letting Google Analytics users get Webmaster Tools data in their GA accounts, so they can surface Google search data in GA. Several months ago, Google launched a pilot program, but now, the new set of reports is available …

Google made a couple relatively quiet announcements this week that have pretty big ramifications for webmasters who want to get more traffic to their sites. If you’re a Webmaster Tools user, you can thank Google for a new “Site Health” …

Google announced the launch of a new set of reports in Google Analytics today, which shows you what’s happening with your site as it happens. Pretty cool. It’s called Google Analytics Real-Time (fittingly). “One way that I like to use …

Early this year, reports surfaced that the German government would possibly fine businesses for using Google Analytics, saying that the tool violates people’s privacy, but Google said at the time: “Google Analytics complies with European data protection laws and is …

Google announced a new set of five reports in Google Analytics today called Multi-Channel Funnels. In Analytics, conversions and ecommerce transactions are credited to the last campaign, search, or ad that referred the visitor when he or she converted,” Google …

Google announced an update to sessions in Google Analytics. The company says it will lead to a “clearer understanding of website interactions.” As it stands now, GA ends a session when over 30 minutes have elapsed between pageviews for a …

You may recall, back in June when Google announced Instant Pages. The concept is that Google begins loading the page it thinks you’re most likely to click on before you even click on it. This means, in theory at least, …

Google announced the addition of +1 button data to Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools. These new metrics can show you how the +1 button actually affects the traffic to your site. In WMT, there is a Search Impact report, which …

Google showed off a new version of Google Analytics at a conference in San Francisco today. While it’s not widely available yet, Google has made it available to a small group of users for testing. The company has posted a …

How much do you rely on web analytics? Probably a great deal, and with good reason. It’s incredibly hard to get ahead online without looking at analytics and using that information to your advantage. Many of you probably use Google Analytics for this, but what if the government threatened to fine you for doing so? 

All those who have worked at companies which never used or do not use web analytics to make decisions about site changes, know how difficult it is to create a culture of web analytics. It is very hard. Building a culture of web analytics is a grueling uphill task.

After working with various client I have found that reasons for not using web analytics vary from company to company, some of the common ones are:

Google has had its own URL shortener for some time. It just didn’t make it available for general use. It was always attached to various Google products. That changes now, as Google has given it is own site at goo.gl. It’s called simply, Google URL Shortener. 

If you have a Google Chrome extension, this news might interest you greatly. Google announced today that it has added support for Google Analytics to the Chrome Extension Gallery. 

comScore announced today that it has acquired Nedstat, an online analytics and optimization firm based out of Amsterdam.

The acquisition enables comScore to substantially expand its presence in Europe, with offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden. The company says this will help it reach out to new clients in these markets.

Google has launched Stats for Blogger, a Blogger feature that was previously available in the experimental version of Blogger, Blogger in Draft. The feaure is fairly self-explanatory in that it provides Blogger users with stats about their blogs.

More specifically, Stats for Blogger provides stats like real-time tracking of each time your blog is viewed, and insights about your audience, such as top search keywords, countries, browsers, etc. The user interface comes with easy-to-read graphs and charts.

Everyone knows that social media provides some great opportunities for marketing, but measurement issues continue to plague businesses. You know content is being shared, but you don’t know how people who its being shared with are responding to it.

Are you content with your ability to measure social media effectiveness? Let us know.

Nokia announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Motally, a mobile analytics firm. The company provides in-app tracking and reporting, enabling developers and publishers to optimize the development of their apps.

IBM has announced that it is acquiring marketing software company Unica for about $480 million in cash. IBM says the Unica will expand its ability to help organizations analyze and predict customer preferences and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.

IBM has announced the closing of its acquisition of web analytics firm Coremetrics, based in San Mateo, CA. The acquisition will boost IBM’s business analytics offerings through cloud services.

Google has launched some new features for the Google Analytics API. These include support for advanced segments and 48 new metrics around goal performance, as well as goal configuration data.