Tuesday, 8 May 2007

Today at the Emetrics Summit in San Francisco, Brett Crosby and Jeff Veen unveiled the new version of Google Analytics. We will be activating this new version on all current Analytics accounts over the next few weeks, so please be on the lookout for an email from us and keep an eye on your settings page.


After it has been made active, you will still have access to the old version for at least one month.

What’s different?
We've redesigned the reporting interface for greater customization and collaboration. This should make it easier for businesses and website owners to find and share the data you need to make informed decisions. The new version presents data more clearly and in context, so you can look at a single report to gain insights rather than having to pull up several reports to understand what action to take.

The admin settings and the actual data collected are not changing except for a few improvements detailed on this FAQ page, so it shouldn't take you long to get used to the new interface. We hope that you'll find Google Analytics more accessible and useful for your business or site. Here are some of the improvements:
  • Email and export reports: Schedule or send ad-hoc personalized report emails and export reports in PDF format.
  • Custom Dashboard: No more digging through reports. Put all the information you need on a custom dashboard that you can email to others.
  • Trend and Over-time Graph: Compare time periods and select date ranges without losing sight of long term trends.
  • Contextual help tips: Context sensitive Help and Conversion University tips are available from every report.
Why did we develop this new version?
Since Google Analytics launched in November 2005, the demand for website analytics has increased significantly. Today there are hundreds of thousands of Google Analytics customers, and web analytics has moved from being a niche function to becoming a mainstream aspect of the business for companies of all sizes. You've asked that we focus our engineering efforts around maintaining the sophistication and features that experienced users want, while also making it easy for both experts and non-experts to quickly and easily find the answers you want.

For a smooth transition, here are a few helpful resources specific to the new version:
  • Take a tour of the new version
  • Report Finder Tool: will help you see where data from the previous interface is located within the new version (it is also linked to from within your reports on the left navigation menu)
  • FAQs for more details about the new version
  • New version features page
And as always, the Help Center, the Google Analytics Authorized Consultant program and the Analytics Help Forum are available to help you.

The new version of Google Analytics is easy enough for a layperson to understand, but also offers the sophistication experienced users need.