Google Analytics Goes Real-Time & Gets a Premium Version

Google launches two new features for Google Analytics: Real-time stats and premium accounts for large enterprises.

Google just announced that it is launching a premium version of its Google Analytics website stats product. This premium version, which will only be available to users in the U.S., Canada and the UK for now, comes with advanced analysis functions and extra processing power. Maybe even more important to the enterprise users Google is targeting here is the fact that Google Analytics Premium also comes with an uptime guarantee and 24/7 phone support. Google isn’t announcing any pricing for this product, as it is squarely aimed at large businesses and contracts will likely be negotiable.

Google is launching another feature for the rest of us, too, however, which will have wide consequences for how its users will use Analytics going forward.

Real-Time Stats: What’s Happening on Your Site Right Now?

In addition to this, regular Google Analytics users will be happy to hear that Google is also launching real-time website traffic tracking as well. Currently, it usually takes about a day before Google’s data has caught up and displays all the day from the previous day.

Now, however, users who have already switched over to the redesigned version of Google Analytics will be able to see what’s happening on their sites in real-time. Until now, you needed a product like Woopra or Chartbeat to see this data, but now, you can just look at your Google Analytics dashboard to see this information.

The real-time feature is only available in the new version of Google Analytics yet and it’s rolling out slowly, so it may take a few days (or even weeks) before you get to use it. You can request early access here, though.

Should Woopra, Chartbeat and Co. be Worried?

It remains to be seen if this real-time version is fully-featured enough to challenge Woopra and Co. in the real-time analytics market. One thing that Google definitely has going for it is that its service is free, no matter how much traffic you receive, while the other companies generally charge users whose sites get a reasonable amount of traffic.

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