Google Analytics will know
even more than the Google cookie

OOGLE have introduced their site statistics service only a few days ago. They teamed up with Urchin who are among the best in their field, if not best in terms of the popularity and functionality of their software package, which analyses log files. With all the enthusiasm, concerns emerge as well, at least in my own mind.

Google continue to spread their wings, assigning innovative projects to their highly talented and Internet-savvy staff. This time, for a change, Google penetrate information that only sites can retain, i.e. in-house data. In that sense, they benefit from inside information, which perhaps leads to unfair, unbalanced competition which puts privacy in greater jeopardy.

Google’s quick expansion frighens me; it passively becomes a Web monopoly. First they stole the thunder from Alex King’s FeedLounge and now it may be Jeff Veen’s Measure Map (among others like Mint). I volunteered to help both projects, so I have seen or can foresee Google’s impact on ‘mom-and-pop’ sites. I have mentioned this implicitly in:

• Feed Readers Everywhere
• Google Print and AI

It all develops into a scary situation as you can never fight or resist scale, no matter how ambitious you might be. Services integration is yet another major factor which elevates the brand. Google can finally take a deeper look that transcends the level of SERP‘s and will be able to see what MSN, Yahoo and the others are up to. Moreover, expect abuse of reports, e.g. fabricated (i.e. spam) statistics that attempt to enhance a site’s image, at least in Google’s perception.

Is it just me who is slightly apprehensive? Are all bases belong (sic.) to Google? Google Base, which was officially launched just a few hours ago, crops to mind. I mentioned its possible impact among my Google pet peeves.

Google Analytics, by the way, is said to provide no statistics as yet. Many people suggest that its state is dormancy. I am not sure if the service is overwhelmed by demand or perhaps it is still in beta, much like most services from Google.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 at 8:36 am and is filed under News, SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.