Google launches paid version of Google Analytics
Sep 29th, Google launched a paid version of Google Analytics that processes higher volumes of page views and provides additional support. The general feature set and user experience remain the fundamentally the same as the standard product. This comes as an important addition to the enterprise set of tools that Google offers. The new version audience is mainly enterprises that receive a high amount of traffic and need a certain commitment from Google’s part on data collection, up-time, and support.
The new Google Analytics premium is not about features, as shown below there are few capabilities available on the premium version that are not available on the standard version. It is designed for organizations who value guaranteed availability, dedicated services and support; it is also critical for sites who want to process data more frequently and without sampling.
Below is a detailed description of the tool capabilities, availability, support and pricing.
Google Analytics Premium – Product Description
Processing Power
Guaranteed processing for up to 1 billion hits per month (vs. the 10 million a month for standard accounts). This applies to a single business or enterprise, but can include multiple web properties. In other words, if a company owns several sites, but the combined volume is under the 1 billion limit, all can be part of one premium instance, but if each site may reach the 1 billion limit separately, then the company would need to pay separately for each site.
Faster, intra-day processing
Service Level Agreement around data collection, reporting, and processing
99.9% on Collection up-time
99% on Reporting up-time
98% on on-time Data Freshness (within 4 hours)
Advanced Analysis Tools
Up to 50 Custom Variable slots (the standard version provides 5)
Unsampled report downloads for custom report requests
Unaggregated report downloads for large report requests (up to 1 million rows per download)
Dedicated Support
Dedicated Account Management
Phone & Email support 10 hours per day, 5 days per week (relevant to the time zone in which the contract was signed)
Implementation Consultation & Tagging Audit
Live & Webinar Training
24/7 Product Emergency Escalation Support, if the product is ever outside of the SLA
Pricing & Availability
At first, Google Analytics Premium is is available to companies based in the US, UK, and Canada, although the sites can be located globally. However, according to Google, it will expand into other regions as quickly as possible.
Prices varies per region and will be as follows: $150,000 USD (US), $150,000 CAN (Canada), or GBP 90,000 (UK) per year (billed in monthly increments).
User Interface Changes
As mentioned above, Google Analytics Premium is not about a new set of features. The interface is almost identical to the standard interface we are used to. I believe this is an advantage for users, as most people are already acquainted with the tool and won’t have to get to know another interface.
