Tag Archives: Announcements

Universal Analytics: Out of beta, into primetime

Universal Analytics is the re-imagining of Google Analytics for today’s multi-screen, multi-device world and all the measurement challenges that come with it. Since we launched UA in beta, we’ve seen some exciting use cases. Today we’re happy to finally announce: Universal Analytics is out of beta and everyone can use it with the same robust set of features you’re used to with classic Analytics!


Feature parity with Classic Analytics, new reports, better user-centric analysis
When we first introduced Universal Analytics and ran the beta trial, the number one request from our testers was for full access to all Google Analytics features and tools. Bringing Universal Analytics out of beta means that all the features, reports, and tools of Classic Analytics are now available in the product, including Remarketing and Audience reporting.

We’re also gradually rolling out the User ID feature to help you better understand your customers’ full journey. This feature shows anonymous engagement activity across different screens and visits to your site to provide a more user-centric view of your traffic, and help you build a more tailored experience for your customers as well. It will also enable new Cross Device reporting that shows how your users are interacting with your business across multiple devices. 

Additionally, Universal Analytics is also now covered by our Premium service-level agreement, which means that same level of service and additional product features Premium users have come to expect will stay the same when their accounts upgrade to Universal Analytics.

New Cross-Device Reports in GA let you see the full customer journey (click image for full-size).

Time Zone Based Processing: Fresher, more timely data
Today, all properties are processed in Pacific Standard Time. If you’re in a different time zone, this can create a lag in the data you see in your reports. With time zone based processing, you’ll see fresher data in your reports in a more timely manner.

Updates to the Measurement Protocol: User Agent / IP Override 
A top developer request, this feature allows developers to proxy data from devices and intranets, through internal servers, and finally onto Google Analytics. To support this, we added two fields to set the IP address and User Agent directly in the Measurement Protocol. With these features, we are also announcing the deprecation of the legacy mobile snippets. Users should update their code to use the Measurement Protocol. 

Our early Universal Analytics adopters have already seen some great results. This case study highlights some of the inspired ways our Certified Partner InfoTrust LLC has helped Beckfield College unlock the full capabilities of Universal Analytics including the use of Remarketing and Audience Reporting:

"Once we saw more than 25% of visits to Beckfield College's website were coming from a mobile device, we migrated them to Universal Analytics with plans on leveraging its cross-device tracking capabilities, and better understanding the full visitor journey across devices." -- James Love, InfoTrust LLC

If you use Google Analytics today, get started with Universal Analytics by upgrading your account. Learn more about the process in the Universal Analytics Upgrade Center, including auto-upgrade process, and timeline. 

If you are new to Google Analytics, learn more about Universal Analytics in the Help Center. 

We’ll share more creative implementations, case studies, and Universal Analytics resources in the coming months that we hope will inspire you to continue to grow your business with the insights you gain using Google Analytics. 

Posted by Nick Mihailovski, Product Manager, Google Analytics

Mastering the science of random chance: Dataless Decision Making comes to Analytics Academy

The world of digital analytics changes fast. From Attribution Modeling to Universal Analytics. From App Analytics to Remarketing. From Tag Management to Audience Reporting. We’re constantly trying to help analysts and marketers measure their business and make better decisions. But sometimes we ignore alternative ways to make business decisions.

That’s why we’re excited to introduce our next Analytics Academy course: Data-less Decision Making.



In this four-unit course, we’ll present some of the most popular ways to avoid using data when making business decisions.  We’ll cover everything from mystical tools, like crystal balls and divining rods, to traditional data-avoidance techniques, like coin flipping. You’ll find that once you adopt these methods you’ll be able to make hundreds, and maybe thousands, of decisions a day!

Still wondering if this course is right for you? Check out our FAQ for more information.

We hope you enjoy the course!

Posted by the Google Analytics Education Team

Understand the full value of TrueView ads with the new Video Campaigns report

Advertisers know that video ads have the ability to reach and convince customers in ways that other formats can’t, but traditional TV ads are often prohibitively expensive, difficult to target, and hard to measure. That’s why so many advertisers have looked to YouTube TrueView ads for their video needs.  With more than 1 billion unique users each month from across the world and with 40% of that traffic on mobile, YouTube is one of the best places to reach your target audience with high-quality, compelling video.

We’ve heard lots of feedback from loyal Google Analytics users asking for better TrueView reporting, which is why we’re so excited to announce a new Google Analytics Video Campaigns report that focuses on your TrueView ads. With this new report rolling out over the next few days, users can now see the detailed effects of their TrueView campaigns on their website traffic and revenue. You can access the new report under Acquisition > AdWords > Video Campaigns.

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If you’ve never created a TrueView ad, it’s easy to do with AdWords for Video. Just head into AdWords, and under the +Campaign button, select Online Video.  


Once you’ve created an auto-tagged TrueView ad in AdWords and linked your Google Analytics and AdWords accounts, your TrueView-ad-driven traffic will show up in the Video Campaigns report after about 24 hours. This report has the familiar look and feel of the other AdWords reports but includes TrueView-specific metrics like Paid Views, Cost Per View, and Website Clicks. There are also new metric groups like Engagement, which helps you understand how users engage with your video and your website.  

Using this newly available data, you can fine-tune your TrueView campaign settings to optimize for views, clicks, or goal conversions. You can also segment the reports by Ad Content or Video, helping you analyze the quality of your video creatives in the context of your website goals. 

In addition, since TrueView ads are often more brand-focused, traffic they generate to your site will often be indirect traffic.  In order to analyze this type of traffic, check out the new Google Display Network Impression Reporting pilot, which can help you understand conversions that resulted from unclicked impressions or video views.  With this report, it’s possible to see how your TrueView ads are generating value beyond just direct clicks; you can dive deeper to understand how impressions, views, and clicks all contributed directly or indirectly to conversions on your site.

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To get started with Video Campaigns reporting, simply link your AdWords and Google Analytics accounts and start an auto-tagged TrueView campaign via AdWords for video. After that, head over to the new report to fine-tune your budgets and targeting.  See you on YouTube!

Posted by Jon Mesh, Google Analytics Product Manager

Android Wear Developer Preview Now Available

By Austin Robison, Android Wear team

Android Wear extends the Android platform to wearables. These small, powerful devices give users useful information just when they need it. Watches powered by Android Wear respond to spoken questions and commands to provide info and get stuff done. These new devices can help users reach their fitness goals and be their key to a multiscreen world.

We designed Android Wear to bring a common user experience and a consistent developer platform to this new generation of devices. We can’t wait to see what you will build.

Getting started

Your app’s notifications will already appear on Android wearables and starting today, you can sign up for the Android Wear Developer Preview. You can use the emulator provided to preview how your notifications will appear on both square and round Android wearables. The Developer Preview also includes new Android Wear APIs which will let you customize and extend your notifications to accept voice replies, feature additional pages, and stack with similar notifications. Head on over to developer.android.com/wear to sign up and learn more.

For a brief introduction to the developer features of Android Wear, check out these DevBytes videos. They include demos and a discussion about the code snippets driving them.

What’s next?

We’re just getting started with the Android Wear Developer Preview. In the coming months we’ll be launching new APIs and features for Android Wear devices to create even more unique experiences for the wrist.

Join the Android Wear Developers community on Google+ to discuss the Preview and ask questions.

We’re excited to see what you build!

New tools to grow your mobile app business

Today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco we will be announcing two key launches powered by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. You can follow the livestream today at 10:00AM PDT (5:00PM UTC) with the Google Analytics sessions from 2:30PM PDT.

Announcement #1: Bringing the power of Google Analytics to AdMob
We’re happy to announce that Google Analytics is fully available in the AdMob interface on a new Analyze tab. App developers now have a one-stop way to measure success and adjust their earning strategies based on what they learn.

Today’s app developers have to make decisions quickly and implement them seamlessly if they want to stay relevant. It also helps if every business decision is backed up and validated by reliable data. Until now, app developers using AdMob and Google Analytics had to use two separate tools to monetize and measure. Starting today, they’re now in one place.

More than just Google Analytics inside AdMob
The new tab is simpler, yes. But app businesses can also now make decisions faster without losing data accuracy. They’ll also benefit from a new set of features that make measurement the foundation of all monetization programs:
  • drop down menu to switch between individual apps reports
  • new home page with combined Google Analytics and AdMob reporting
  • new Analyze tab with all Google Analytics reports
To see the new feature in action, sign in to your AdMob account and look for the Analyze tab at the top of the page. 

click to enlarge

Your new home tab in AdMob will now incorporate data on how your app is monetizing as well as how it is performing overall with insights on in app purchase, traffic and ads metrics in your app: all in one tab - a unique feature just in Admob.

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Get started in one click with Google Analytics and AdMob 
1. Login or open a new account on AdMob and sign up for Google Analytics (GA) in the new Analyze tab. 
2. If you are already using Google Analytics for your apps, you can link your existing account with AdMob in the Analyze tab. 
3. If you are not using Google Analytics, you can sign up via AdMob and complete the process without leaving the interface.

Announcement #2: New Content Experiments with Google Tag Manager
People have a lot of choice when it comes to apps and keeping them engaged is a challenge. Businesses who experiment with different app layouts have a higher chance to find the best performing solution and keep users engaged. A few months ago we announced Google Tag Manager for apps, today we are enabling content experiments: an easy way to set up and run experiments to change anything from in-app promotions to menu layout. With Google Tag Manager you can modify app configuration for existing users without having to ship a new version.

But how can we always be sure that we are changing it for the best? Wouldn’t it better if you could validate business decisions with data? Now you can run content experiments on a subset of your users to choose the best option - where to show promotions? How often? Data in Google Analytics will answer your questions and you can now be sure your decisions will be backed by data.

Google Tag Manager has been built to be very intuitive, even for people not familiar with coding. Businesses can now let their marketers or business analysts run experiments without requiring a developer to be involved. App experiments are now accessible to everyone.


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Getting started with Google Tag Manager
  1. Sign up for an account at www.google.com/tagmanager and create a mobile container
  2. Download the SDK for either Android or iOS. 
  3. Start programming! Use the SDK to instrument configuration and events you care about in your app.
  4. When you’re ready to dynamically change your app, use the Google Tag Manager interface to start configuring. Remember to press the “Publish” button to push your rules and configurations to your users.
Posted by Russell Ketchum, Lead Product Manager, Google Analytics for Mobile Apps and Google Tag Manager

Tailored ads, better results: Dynamic Remarketing powered by Google Analytics

Back in August, 2012, we launched Remarketing with Google Analytics, which enabled advertisers to create sophisticated remarketing lists using Google Analytics’ 250+ dimensions and metrics. 
Today, we’re excited to announce a deeper remarketing integration between AdWords and Google Analytics. 

A single set of tags can now power both Google Analytics and Dynamic Remarketing on the Google Display Network using the Google Merchant Center. Retailers (with other verticals in beta) will gain power and precision for their remarketing along with access to detailed product level reporting through this integration.


What is Dynamic Remarketing?
[original article here]

Every customer is unique. Dynamic remarketing takes this into account, letting you create and deliver beautiful customized ads that connect visitors with their past shopping experiences on your site. If you’re a retailer with a Google Merchant Center account, you can use dynamic remarketing to construct remarketing ads on the fly with the products and messages that are predicted to perform best based on visitors’ past actions on your site.
For example: Customers who browsed the winter tires category on an advertiser’s website might see an ad that includes the exact products they’ve already viewed, in addition to related products from the company’s catalog. In the Tirendo example above, the ad also shows details of recently viewed tires, including the prices.
Early users are seeing great results

"We've been thrilled with the performance of Dynamic Remarketing with Google Analytics and Conversion Optimizer, which has so far driven a 203% increase in conversions and 100% increase in conversion rates vs. our display average. Combined with Google Analytics' powerful reporting on these same metrics, we've been able to derive actionable insights which we've put to good use throughout our other campaigns."
- Janina Rix, SEA Manager, tirendo.de

To begin using Dynamic Remarketing

  1. Create one or more remarketing lists using Google Analytics
  2. Update your tags to track Product ID, Cart Value, and Page Type as custom variables (or dimensions)
  3. Enable the Dynamic Link in Admin > Property > Dynamic Attributes. This will let Google Analytics send attributes to your AdWords account. [more below]
  4. Create a Dynamic Remarketing Display campaign in AdWords

    Here’s a quick visual guide to the new interface.

    Step 1: Configure account details


    Step 2: Make sure the attribute names match your custom variables



    Step 3: Click ‘Save’ and finish by creating your first Dynamic Remarketing campaign in AdWords


    Want more help? Download a remarketing starter pack from the solutions gallery. 

    Please stay tuned for more remarketing-related updates in the near future!

    Happy Analyzing, Dan Stone and Lan Huang on behalf of the Google Analytics Team

    Invest In Yourself: Learning Digital Analytics In 2014

    We’re excited to help digital marketers become more data savvy through the Analytics Academy. Initially launched in October of last year, our first course attracted more than 145,000 students - and more than 30,000 finished the course and earned a certificate of completion.

    That’s why today we’re excited to announce the launch of our next course in the Analytics Academy titled “Google Analytics Platform Principles.”

    In this course we’ll dive deeper into the details of how the platform collects, transforms and organizes the data you see in Analytics. Understanding how these processes work is the first step to refining your implementation and uncovering more valuable insights about your business.



    In this self-paced online course, you’ll learn about:
    • the four components of the Analytics platform: collection, processing, configuration and reporting 
    • how Analytics collects the data you need across different devices
    • how your data is transformed before you see it in your reports
    • key concepts for customizing your Analytics data in useful ways
    Registration is now open and the course begins March 11, 2014. You can sign up here.

    The importance of education
    It’s never been a more exciting time for businesses as technology is driving innovation at an astounding rate. With the introduction of mobile devices (and tablets) and the ability to understand user behavior - the fundamental way that we do business is changing. And the key driver is data.

    All of these new technologies create information - data that we can use to better understand the needs of customers. If we understand the customer better, we can help them achieve their goals, while we achieve ours.

    Nowhere is this more evident than in digital marketing and digital advertising. 78% of marketers feel the need to become more data driven and almost 40% of major brands see a talent gap in analytics. Marketers need to know how their campaigns drive direct conversions, and more importantly, how they improve the overall performance of other campaigns. This can be an imposing task for someone that doesn’t know the difference between a conversion and bounce rate. 

    No matter what your role in business, from marketing to product to PR, you will need to work with data. Luckily there many opportunities for all of us to learn. Make 2014 the year that you invest in yourself and develop your analytical skills.

    To paint the picture of the opportunity, we also created an infographic to get you excited about embarking on your own personal analytics education (see a preview below, but view the whole graphic here). We hope to see you at our MOOC in class!


    Posted by Justin Cutroni, Analytics Evangelist, Google

    New: AdWords Reports for App download campaigns

    Today we’re happy to announce a deeper integration between AdWords and Google Analytics for Mobile Apps that will help advertisers make faster and better decisions about marketing their apps.

    To put it simply: link your AdWords and Google Analytics accounts and enable auto-tagging, and you’ll start receiving a new set of detailed reports on things like day parts, destination URLs and keyword positions. These automatic reports show exactly how your search and display campaigns are performing and offer rich insights into the kind of users they’re driving to Google Play. 

    Any user of both AdWords and Google Analytics can have this set of reports by just enabling auto-tagging. We handle the rest, so you can focus on optimizing rather than manually tagging AdWords campaigns.


    These new reports can be found under the Acquisition menu for Google Analytics App Views. They’ll become visible to everyone over the next few days.

    Insights for display & search campaigns
    These new reports cover both display and search campaigns. You can: 
    • Check the Campaigns report to better understand users being driven into your app, and see how they use your app. 
    • Find out from the Day Parts report when users are interacting with your campaigns.
    • Use Search reports to find out which keywords and search queries are acquiring the most new users.
    Click image for full-sized version
    A step towards measuring lifetime value of your customers
    Ad campaigns should help you find the best customers. These new reports go a long way towards identifying them. Whether you track in-app revenue or specific goal conversions, you’ll be able to tie user quality to the campaign that brought them to your app.

    One of our early Beta testers was Nubee, a Singapore-based game development studio. They shared their experience with us:

    "We were satisfied that we could track which keywords attributed to sales. Using this data, we were also able to modify the download page." - Shizuka Watanbe, Head of PR, Nubee

    We hope you’ll find these new reports useful. You can get them running by linking accounts and enabling auto-tagging today.

    Posted by Rahul Oak, Product Manager, Google Analytics for Apps

    Improving Remarketing with Google Analytics: A UI Refresh and List Importing

    Last year, we released a new, more powerful version of segmentation, supporting more robust user-centric analysis (recap here).

    Now you can achieve the full power of this enhanced segmentation in Remarketing with Google Analytics.

    With this overhaul (which is rolling out over the next two weeks), you can more easily create Remarketing lists based on origin, demographics, and behavior to re-engage with your audiences like never before.

    New interface under Admin > Remarketing Lists


    One of our early users shared their experience so far:

    “We have 8 target user segments that we engage with through Eloqua. Google Analytics provides us with a flexible environment to track the behavior of these segments across all incoming traffic channels. Now we can easily import these segments to make our remarketing spend much more effective.” --Oleg Rogynskyy, CEO, Semantria

    Got lots of segments that you'd like to act on? No problem. You can now import from your existing segments in the Remarketing list builder. This includes all custom segments you’ve created, plus segments you import from the solutions gallery.


    And after importing...


    We're excited to release this improvement and make Remarketing with Google Analytics simpler and more powerful.  You can get started by importing the Remarketing Starter pack from the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery.

    Stay tuned for more improvements in the coming weeks! 

    Posted by Dan Stone, Product Manager, Google Analytics 

    Google News highlights unique content with Editors’ Picks

    (Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

    News organizations tell stories online in ways that bring together the best of traditional and digital journalism, whether that involves long-form investigative features, compelling photo slideshows or interactive maps and charts that add new levels of engagement to the day's news. To help connect you to the best works of news publishers, Google News is introducing a new section in the right-hand column of the U.S. edition. The section is called "Editors' Picks,” and it displays original content that publishers have selected as highlights from their publications. This is the latest addition to recent improvements we’ve made to the variety and presence of stories and multimedia on Google News.

    An array of news organizations, including local, national and niche publishers, are now using Editors’ Picks to display their best, most engaging content. Because Google News relies on algorithms, Editors' Picks will always be just that—picks provided by publishers themselves, and not by Google. You can browse a set of publisher feeds that span national, specific and local interests—like The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, the Guardian and The Root, among many others—via the side-to-side arrows next to each publisher's logo. The feeds you see are chosen based on a variety of factors, including your news preferences. If you’re interested in using source preferences on Google News, Editors' Picks helps you do that with the slider that appears just below the articles.


    You may have first noticed Editors’ Picks as an experiment last year. Based on the data from that experiment, we have been working with nearly two dozen publishers in recent months and have seen a positive response from readers and publishers alike: readers get the news they're interested in from the sources they trust, and publishers receive higher traffic to their websites. We encourage any news organizations that are interested to visit our Help Center to get started.

    Posted by Yogita Mehta, Software Engineer, Google News Team