"Google plans to introduce free analytical tools for online publishers and marketers today, a move that would help the company's clients get a better sense of Web site traffic patterns and advertising campaigns," reports The New York Times
"Online analytic tools help publishers determine how often people have viewed certain pages and clicked on certain links within those pages. The free services will be integrated into Google's lucrative AdWords program, in which marketers for, say, wrenches, pay to have their ads appear near search results whenever online users search for 'automotive tools.' Google Analytics will crunch numbers on behalf of users, telling them how often visitors who saw an ad associated with "automotive tools" clicked on the ad, versus those who searched for 'hardware stores'.".
Comment: As the NYT story says, the new service works with ads on any site, eg Yahoo, and is based on Urchin's analytics program. Google bought the company for an estimated $30 million, and the Urchin On Demand service that could have cost you $199 or more per month is now free. There's also a Google press release.
