Google seems to be embracing the Halloween spirit a little early this year. Its announcement regarding two new Analytics features might be interpreted as a trick, for example, since they’re in private beta without a release date. Then, for a treat, there’s not one but four new features that should arrive much sooner.

How’s advanced segmentation sound? This first of the four “enables you to isolate and analyze subsets of your traffic,” according to a post made on the Google Analytics Blog. “It is true on-the-fly segmentation of visits so that you can create powerful filters with a few mouse-clicks. . . . Then, you can apply one or more of these segments to current or historical data, and even compare segment performance side by side in reports.”

The second feature, custom reports, allows for still more user input. Motion charts will display everything in an easy-to-understand (and interesting) visual format. Finally, a new account management dashboard promises to make everything more accessible and easier to understand.

As for the stuff “scheduled for a more gradual full release,” a data export API will allow developers and random individuals to try their hands at creating new programs and applications. Integration with AdSense is self-explanatory and has topped request lists for a long time.

So go sign into Google Analytics to see exactly what the search giant put in your goody bag. And if you’re not lusting after the last two features, consider the real joke to be on Yahoo, which was trying to address some of the same issues with the upcoming Yahoo Web Analytics product.

Spread the word: related/readit

Source: Web Pro News

Wired has posted an already-controversial article about how blogs are “so 2004″, and how services like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr even are here to replace them. Writer Paul Boutin says:

Thinking about launching your own blog? Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.

Obviously, people have some things to say about that. So let’s look at some responses from bloggers:

At PureBlogging, I personally said: “Blogs are not obsolete. You know why? Because I still read them everyday. I still write for them nearly everyday. And so do countless others (that probably includes you). If you ask me, blogs are more relevant than they’ve ever been, because they are more mainstream than they have ever been.”

Spread the word: related/readit

Read the rest of this entry »