Yesterday afternoon, Enrique Munoz Torres, the Product Manager of the Google Analytics team, announced a new Premium version of Google Analytics. Initially, the product will only be available in the US, Canada, and the UK where Google indicated that it has already signed on Papa John’s, Travelocity, Gucci, and Transunion for the premium service.
The price tag, which is a hefty $150,000 per year, will discourage the majority of Google Analytics users from changing over to the Google Analytics Premium service. Google Analytics Premium, which is best-suited for enterprise level clients with sophisticated analytics needs, offers the following advantages over the free service:
- 4-hour data freshness
- Dedicated processing power
- Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- Up to 50 custom variables
- Attribution modeling
- Higher level of product support that includes training
The new premium version addresses the major concerns of large corporations: data ownership, data retention, and a formal SLA agreement. As a result of addressing concerns and developing a premium product, Google has been able to acquire some of the world’s top brands as pilot customers.
Even though Google Analytics Premium offers a robust feature set and many new options, the interface is almost identical to the free Google Analytics and implementation is still as easy as placing a code snippet on the site.
Although rumors began circulating that Google Analytics would discontinue its free service, Torres issued the following statement to reassure free users that these rumors were false:
“We’re more committed than ever to providing our customers, large and small, with options to measure and improve their marketing efforts. Google Analytics will continue to offer a powerful, free product as it always has and you’ll see plenty of new features and enhancements in the future.”
For businesses that have an extra $150,000 in their analytics budget, Google Analytics Premium is available through authorized resellers or directly from Google.
[Sources Include: Google Analytics Blog & Google Analytics Premium]
