Biznology

It’s been a rocky start for the newly-free Google Analytics. I guess there are worse things that can happen than to be overwhelmed with demand, but Google was forced to stop accepting new sign-ups and has apologized to customers whose stats have been delayed. Google will straighten it all out soon, they say, but what about the burning question of whether companies using fee-based Web Metrics solutions should switch? I spoke with John Payne, the Manager of IBM’s SurfAid Analytics service, to answer that question.

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Do people ask you why your Web site’s search doesn’t use Google? That’s frustration talking—they didn’t find what they wanted and they think that Google will magically fix that. Are they right? Read this month’s Biznology newsletter—Can Google Fix Your Web Site’s Search?—to find out. Read the remainder of this entry »

In case you missed it, the Web world has been abuzz this week over Google announcing a free Web Metrics service, called Google Analytics. Google Analytics has been carved out of the acquisition of Urchin, a Web Metrics service that sold for $199 a month. If you can get Web Metrics for free, where does that leave the rest of the offerings out there that compete with Google Analytics—and are not free?

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A few weeks ago, we looked at why Web site searchers complain there are too many results when they search. After I posted that blog entry, I was pointed to a survey where consumers voiced that very complaint. In a 2003 Jupiter Research Consumer Survey, 54% of consumers stated that there are simply too many results returned for self-service search to be useful. As we discussed before, remember that just because searchers say it does not mean it is so—when searchers say their are too many results, they mean that the wrong results are on top.

Following the BtoB Magazine NetMarketing Breakfast last week, I had the opportunity to speak with the editor of BtoB Magazine, Ellis Booker, who interviewed me for the BtoB Hands On Search Newsletter on the future of personalized search and other search marketing topics.