Often, Google develops a product and then watches as users innovate new uses that are exciting in their creativity and utility. Well, we just came across an excellent example that is close to our hearts.
As you may know, Google Website Optimizer was recently made accessible to all AdWords users. We’ve mentioned it a few times in this blog: it’s a multivariate web page testing tool that can help you understand which web page designs really work.

Google Analytics will experience downtime today, Thursday, 12 April, 2007 at 12:00 AM PDT for a few hours for routine maintenance. Your account will be inaccessible during this time.
During this downtime, Google Analytics data will continue to be collected within your account. Your account will be accessible and fully updated within a few hours after 12:00 AM PDT. We apologize for any inconvenience this downtime has caused.
Thank you for using G

Google Analytics users,There is a temporary reporting delay within some Google Analytics accounts due to system maintenance. You are still able to log in to accounts and please note that no data will be lost - data will continue to be collected and processed during this time.
We expect Google Analytics account data to be fully updated and displayed within your reports within two hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay in reporting h

Today, we are happy to announce that Website Optimizer is now available to all AdWords advertisers. For those who are unfamiliar with Website Optimizer, it is a free multivariate testing tool, built into AdWords, that helps online marketers increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction by enabling them to continually test different combinations of site content.With Google Analytics, webmasters and marketers are listening to

I am so sick of the news on this blog being, on average, a week old. Its my fault. I let these tabs build and build and build, and I don’t have time to write because I’m too busy amassing tabs, and when I finally do write something, it’s a week old. Dammit! I am so not doing this anymore. I hate missing news, but it is beyond stupid to have late and irellevant news because you don’t want to miss anything.
And because

Have you ever needed some quick advice about using Google Analytics, or wanted to learn some cool tricks? The Analytics Help Forum in Google Groups is a great place to go to see people helping out their peers by asking for, and quickly sharing, best practices, references, advice, and observations.

There are six discussion sections: Analytics Basics , Tracking Your Site , Your ROI, Troubleshooting, Urchin 5 Software, and Miscellaneous, each with a good number of interesting contributions.

For example, in this helpful discussion thread user ‘MercuryTide’ asks, “Does anyone know if it is possible to have tracking report to 2 different GA accounts?” User ‘ShoreTel’ and user ‘bac’ reply that this can be accomplished by resetting the _uff flag, each giving a different method of doing so.

And sometimes experienced users will answer a request for tips on more than just troubleshooting Google Analytics. In another discussion thread , user ‘agapit’ says, “I have just changed a site design and layout. I have not changed any marketing parameters. Bounce rate went down from 62% on home page to 49%. What proven design suggestions that lower Bounce Rates are there?”

‘Caleb @ Pop,’ an experienced Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, replies, “The most important thing to keeping bounce rate low is giving the visitor what they want to find right away.” He goes on to give a helpful example of the path from ad click to conversion, citing that when possible, the landing pages should be customized to contain the converting action mentioned in the ad or link. And he recommends linking to a specific product page when advertising that product, rather than linking to the home page which would require some navigation by the visitor.

For lively discussion about Google Analytics, visit our Google Group. You can ask for answers to your questions, contribute your own knowledge, or just read through the different discussion threads to learn more.

Posted by Keyon Hedayati, Google Analytics Team

Although the new Marketing Pilgrim Job Board is only a few hours old - awww, look at him, he has his father’s eyes - I’m already digging into the referral stats.
One thing I’ve noticed - and had noticed before with this site - is that not all Google referrals equate to search engine traffic.
I use both web logs and Google analytics to keep track of my traffic, but GA is the one I use for drilling-down into data

Last post, we told you about a way to use Google Analytics to see your Google Checkout transaction data. Today, we’ll show you the alternate method of posting Checkout API requests,

Method 2 for posting Checkout API requests into Google Analytics
In this method, the form that displays the Google Checkout button submits to another URL on the merchant’s website

We occasionally get questions from our new users of Google Checkout. They’ve read all about how to track e-commerce transactions with Google Analytics; now they would like more specific details for implementing tracking.
Merchants can use Google Analytics to track buyers who leave their sites to complete the checkout process with Google Checkout

The growth and adoption of web analytics applications over the last few years has made detailed conversion tracking a mission critical part of operating a successful e-commerce website. E-commerce merchants routinely track all aspects of each and every individual conversion. Tracking return on ad spend by channel is now just as crucial as understanding profit margins

Happy new year! For our first post of 2007, we’d like to add clarity to the difference between two reports that you are probably already using.Among the vast array of reports that Google Analytics provides, “Absolute Unique Visitors” and “New vs. Returning” are two that give information on what percentage of visitors your website retains

Google Analytics users,There will be a planned system maintenance today, Wednesday, Dec 6 from 10:00pm to 10:30pm Pacific Time. Please note that you will be unable to log in, however, your data will continue to be collected and processed during this time.
After 10:30pm PST your account will again be fully available and up to date.
Thanks for your patience and for using Google Analytics.

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

Adding the Google Analytics tracking code to your website is easy—simply add the JavaScript snippet to the source code. But what happens when you make changes to your website and start to see browser error messages? Don’t panic. Check these issues to avoid common mistakes. 1. Check the tracking code Correctly installed Google Analytics tracking code does not generate browser errors

Every now and then we will share updates from other Googlers about the products they’re working on if we think that info will benefit Google Analytics users. Google Apps for Your Domain is similar to Google Analytics in that it offers simple and useful ways to view and share information online. And with these apps, you are actively creating information as well

Google Analytics allows you to easily configure, filter, and focus your site’s traffic data in powerful ways. And we want you to avoid the few pitfalls that we have seen around configuration of filters, goals, and e-commerce. For example, when a filter is accidentally implemented incorrectly in a profile, important data can get excluded from that profile’s reports

Let’s take a look at Google’s Privacy policy:

• Google collects personal information when you register for a Google service or otherwise voluntarily provide such information. We may combine personal information collected from you with information from other Google services or third parties to provide a better user experience, including customizing content for you.
• Google uses cookies and other technologies to enhance your online experience and to learn about how you use Google services in order to improve the quality of our services.
• Google’s servers automatically record information when you visit our website or use some of our products, including the URL, IP address, browser type and language, and the date and time of your request.

Now what does Google do with this information?

• We may use personal information to provide the services you’ve requested, including services that display customized content and advertising.
• We may also use personal information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve Google technologies and services.
• We may also share information with third parties in limited circumstances, including when complying with legal process, preventing fraud or imminent harm, and ensuring the security of our network and services.
• Google processes personal information on our servers in the United States of America and in other countries. In some cases, we process personal information on a server outside your own country.

Now let’s move over to another topic. Google Analytics. Over the last ten months or so since Google aquired Urchin and renamed it Google analytics, *a lot* of websites have started using this free, organized, intuitive web statistics program. Google Analytics sets a couple of cookies for tracking and to keep it short, Google is pulling a lot of data about how all of us move about on the internet. Let me explain.

Let’s talk about Joe Blow. He visits wakes up in the morning and starts surfing. He visits 30 sites before he needs to shower and get off to work. I have not stats on how many sites us Google analytics, but if half those sites, do, then Google is collecting and storing a pretty good picture of Joe’s overall surfing habits.

This is fine, right? Google is the good guy, and they’re only going to use the information to serve up the most relevant ads to Joe. Joe’s fine with this, because although Google makes a killing, the ads are less intrusive because they’re things that Joe is interested in.

Now remember, Joe never saw or agreed to Google privacy policy, but Google has the info.

There’s also another factor. The US government could subpoena information that Google has. So even though Google has the best of intentions, they may not have the last word.

It might be a good idea for sites to start looking for alternative statistics programs.