Google Analytics gets a face-lift

Google Analytics relaunched today, adding several new visualization tools and ways to share data with others. The tool gives Web site owners a free and relatively easy system to keep track of how people are accessing content on their site, including ways to track which content is getting the most views, how much time each user is spending on the site, and the number of visits by time of day. There's also a handy map overlay which will show you where your users are, right down to the city they live in.

No it's not an episode of Jericho, it's site usage by geography.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

One of the updated features is the Analytics dashboard, which is now completely customizable and has simplified data. Users can relocate, add, and remove the various data widgets, in a similar fashion to that of iGoogle. Also new is the option to e-mail or export reports as PDFs, which can now be scheduled to be sent out automatically every day, week, month or quarter using a built-in calendar. Previously you were only able to export it as a non-human-friendly XML file.

The service is mainly an extension of Google's AdWords program, which lets site owners purchase words that link to various parts of their site via contextual ads that show up on Google or partnered search engine results. But even if you're not interested in making money it's a free Analytics solution that requires no software, just a line of code on any page you want to keep track of. If you're a WordPress user, there's even a plug-in to automatically add it to your site. Blogger users are also able to add it by tweaking their blog template.

There's more information about the update on the Google Analytics Blog post. For more screenshots of the new dashboard, keep reading.

This is Google Analytic's new dashboard. Each stat box is its own widget, and can be moved around or closed ad-hoc.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

To dig down into where your visitors are from you can pull up a map which will show you which countries are checking out your site the most.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Everyone likes pie...charts. This one breaks down which browsers your users are running.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

[Nerosh]

Google Analytics is optional

If you are security / privacy aware, then you browse with FireFox, using AdBlock Plus, CustomizeGoogle and NoScript.
With the appropriate settings, this means that you don't see most ads, you anonymize the google tracking cookies, and the analytics site is blocked.

So many users (and increasing) will not be tracked by the ads software.

[LEOPiC]

is not this handled...

using the urchin javascript?

[i.am.roto]

Awesome Update!

This is the update Google Analytics needed to become the stat-tracker of choice. Kudos, as usual, to the folks at Google for all the new functionality (or, at least, revealing what's already a big part of the AdWords back-end). Having access to all -- or most of -- the organic keywords people use to find a website is also a great new touch.

[Divine Satori]

Wow! This is great!

So what are you guys NOT doing? This is great for people like me, totally clueless about websites and so forth. And since it's free...Yay! Even better!