What’s next for Google Analytics? [infographic]

How Googles’s new Universal Analytics and other planned features add to the tools available to improve business insight

The relentless pace of change at Google

I joined Google in 2005 – just after the acquisition of Urchin, the forerunner of Google Analytics. A big factor for me coming on board with Google (it was not a “no-brainer” as I had my own business and staff to consider), was the promise of the continued development of the product.

At the time, many an industry “luminary” predicted that once acquired, Urchin would just be another product/tool on Google’s shelf. Many mergers and acquisitions are like that – once acquired the interest of the acquiring company moves on to the next thing – but not Google. In fact, what still amazes me is that after 7 years since the launch of Google Analytics, the pace of change is even more rapid than during the first 3 years…

Take for example the announcement of Universal Analytics at the recent GA Summit in October. Universal Analytics is a complete change to how data is collected. Now, not just web analytics but offline transactions and events can be captured and reported in GA. Interesting times indeed…

I created this infographic to help summarise some of the other summit announcements.

Of course, these innovations build on tools already available to help companies get more from Google Analytics. In my next post I will cover a range of plugins that I recommend.

Thanks to Brian Clifton for sharing his advice and opinions in this post. Brian is is an independent author, consultant and trainer who specialises in performance optimisation using Google Analytics. Recognised internationally as a Google Analytics expert, his latest book, the third edition of Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics is used by students and professionals worldwide. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.