There were some rumblings last night, but today it's official: Google Analytics is live. Google purchased Urchin, a web analysis company, back in March. Looks like they managed to bust that $199 a month service fee down to nothing. That's right, the tools are free! Sprinkle the JavaScript tracking code across your pages, then get access to a full suite of analytical tools: track adwords ROI, track keywords from any search tool, track incoming links from anything... Better still, Google's implementation is quite good at massaging the data, so you have a accurate and complete view of your site traffic, and what's driving people to or from your site. As an added bonus, Google adds the "Conversion University" site, with a bunch of articles on optimizing your site for converting visitors into customers and driving traffic to your site.

One thing that has people concerned is Analytics' ability to track keywords from other search engines. Google promises they will not be using competitor info to their own advantage, which is all based on trust I assume. But since you could be exposing that data, is there any guarantee they won't? Google's And what does this mean for companies like StatCounter and Web Side Story? Will the freely available tools from Google displace them, or usher in a new era of free web analysis?