Google improves Analytics with premium and real-time features

Google on Thursday finally launched real-time traffic tracking tools for its already-good Google Analytics service. On top of that, the company introduced premium Google Analytics accounts that offer more ways measure data.

For quite some time, Google Analytics has offered webmasters a free way to measure traffic of their sites 24 hours after the action occurs. But since real-time traffic startups like Chartbeat (a service we use) and Woopra came onto the scene, Google Analytics has looked slow in comparison. Thankfully, that’s remedied with these new stats tools, which include social media impact and campaign measurement.

The company said its real-time stats are only available in the newest version of Google Analytics, so you’ll have to click the “New Version” link in the top right corner to get started. After that, you can read real-time reports by going into the Dashboards tab.

Google used the Analytics spotlight to launch more feature-rich Premium accounts targeted at its largest customers. In the pilot phase, Google coordinated with the likes of Gucci, Travelocity and eHarmony to collect feedback.

Google lists the following new features for Premium accounts:

• Extra processing power – increased data collection, more custom variables and downloadable, unsampled reports
• Advanced analysis – attribution modeling tools that allow you to test different models for assigning credit to conversions
• Service and support – experts to guide customized installation, and dedicated account management on call – all backed by 24/7 support
• Guarantees – service level agreements for data collection, processing and reporting

Google did not list the fee it charges for the Premium service, but it said the fee was annual for users in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

A video introduction to Google Analytics Premium can be viewed below: