Google Analytics is used by just about every major website in Australia, it is easily the most popular analytics programs out there. Now it is pretty much game over for all of the paid ones as Google have announced an API for this product.
Yes, companies pay a fortune to have Nielsen NetRatings code inserted and for them to tell the advertising world just how amazing their visitor numbers are (last count REA had nearly 5 million unique visitors to their site – which I will seriously question once REA get past 22 million).
However for the average Joe, Google Analytics is all they ever need to seriously measure their websites performance. If you can be bothered (and you should be) you can find out so much about the success or otherwise of your business by logging into your Google Analytics account or by setting your Analytics to send you a weekly report. [Yes, of course you must be registered and yes of course you must have the code set.]
Now Google has set their systems FREE and we are in for a world of fun. You can now get data directly from your Google and mash it together for your own purposes. This is what is great about API’s, you set the data free and you will be amazed at what is developed.
I am sure all of the property feed providers such HubOnline, MyDesktop and Portplus will integrate this data into their own systems in the near future. Already at launch Google has a number of examples. Here is an excerp from their blog article.
For example, how would you like to access Google Analytics from your phone? Now you can, with this Android application from Actual Metrics. How about accessing Analytics from your desktop? It’s here from Desktop-Reporting.
And if you’re interested in seeing how integrating Google Analytics can enhance your own business take a look at these examples. MailChimp has integrated Google Analytics into their email marketing platform and ShufflePoint® provides a service for adding Google Analytics data into PowerPoint® presentations. See how youcalc has created apps that allow you to mashup Google Analytics, AdWords, Salesforce.com and other enterprise data.
Check out more customer examples on our developer site. These apps demonstrate only some of the creative possibilities and we know you’ll discover other interesting ways to use the Analytics API.
I have long been scornful of Nielson and other ratings agencies because they only include less than 0.5% of the websites in their metrics. If Google really wanted to – they could release a FREE version of all of the website data across many industries and pretty much make this 1990’s business model redundant overnight.
In the meantime, have some fun with your data, play around and let us know some ideas that you think could be built with this data.