Google Analytics: Pros and Cons For Etailers

[mandy]

One concern expressed by some marketers is that information gleaned from Google Analytics could be fed into Google’s search algorithm and affect where a retailer’s listings rank in search results. Google’s Crosby says the decision to share any data given to Google Analytics with the Google system is under users’ control.

“Google Analytics recently introduced data-sharing settings so that customers could explicitly opt into or out of sharing data with other Google services,” he says. “We understand that company data can be extremely sensitive.”

Crosby adds that web site data shared by marketers with Google Analytics is not used to affect natural search results, ad quality score or placement of ads on Google. Any data shared by marketers is blinded and used in the aggregate for benchmarking purposes, he says.

For now, Google’s free analytics tool has found a place largely among online marketers of all sizes new to or less experienced with analytics, and those who use it for specific tasks alongside other analytics packages...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=25847