Google Analytics Premium

The important points

On 29 September 2011, Google announced the immediate availability of the Google Analytics Premium service. Google Analytics Premium is an extended version of the hugely popular and free-to-use Google Analytics, tailored to meet the needs of large Web sites and enterprises that demand particular levels of performance, security and service beyond those which the standard version is designed to provide.

On the same day, Google announced ivantage Limited as one of the product’s first official resellers. ivantage Limited is authorized to sell, implement and support Google Analytics Premium and provide a full complement of services, including training.

Performance and processing power for the largest enterprise Web sites

• Increased processing power – available exclusively for Google Analytics Premium customers
• Accelerated report availability – data available in reports after a maximum of 4 hours, often within 1
• Data collection limits lifted – raised from 10 million to 1,000 million hits per month
• Data display limits lifted – raised from 50 thousand to 1 million unique table entries per day
• Data sampling limits both lifted – raised from 500 thousand to 50 million visits per ad-hoc query – and selectable (on or off) for exported reports
• Data export limits raised – from 20 thousand to 1 million records per table

Service level commitments backed by contractual guarantees

• Completely revised and upgraded Terms of Service
• Customer has ownership of collected and stored Google Analytics Premium data
• Data collection – a contractual service level of 99.9% over any calendar month
• Reporting – a contractual service level of 99% over any calendar month
• Data processing – a contractual service level stating that data will be processed within 4 hours of collection for more than 98% of the time during any calendar month
• Customer data will be retained within the GAP service for a minimum of 36 months (compare 24 months for the standard edition)

ivantage added value – account management, implementation,
support and world-class training

• Detailed audit of an existing Google Analytics implementation to ensure data accuracy
• Implementation or re-implementation (as necessary) by ivantage using our best practice Web Analytics Implementation (WAIC) Methodology
• On-site and on-line user and technical training devised by ivantage’s highly commended Google Seminar Leaders
• Named Account Manager assigned to ensure complete understanding of the website and commercial objectives
• Monthly report delivery with follow-up web meeting to highlight key points, insights and actions
• Regular face-to-face meetings to consolidate key learning, revise strategies and review actions
• On-going help with configuration and management of accounts, profiles, users, filters and goals
• On-going help with configuration and deployment for Google Analytics features such as events, e-commerce, social media events and custom variables
• Usage support for trained users and administrators 10 x 5, backed by Google
• Product fault management technical support 24 x 7, backed by Google

A growing list of Product and Service features exclusive to
Google Analytics Premium

• The option to export unsampled reports of up to 1 million rows
• Custom variables increased from 5 to 50
• Multi-channel attribution modelling
• Simplified and flexible access control
• Annually renewable contract with predictable fixed price
• New and innovative product features will make their first (often only) appearance in GA Premium

Google Analytics Premium in detail

Performance and processing power for the largest enterprise Web sites

Since its 2005 launch, Google Analytics has been optimised to serve the needs of a large market whose members have been supplied with the service free of charge. At the same time, the IT infrastructure supporting the service has had to grow fast to keep up with demand. To keep the size and cost of the infrastructure within reasonable bounds, there have had to be limits to certain attributes. They include limits on the rate of data recorded and the proportion of all data that gets analysed during the reporting process.

Users of Google Analytics Premium do not operate within such constraints.

Increased processing power – available exclusively for Google Analytics Premium customers

The Google Analytics Premium Service infrastructure is sized for busy websites sending high volumes of web analytics data whose managers demand fresh reports quickly. Because the service is paid for by users, the infrastructure can be sized to meet the demand and imposes no compromises on performance.

Accelerated report availability – data becomes available in reports after a maximum of 4 hours

Google Analytics standard edition generally updates reports every 24 hours with some intra-day processing for sites sending less than 1 million hits per day. For sites sending more than 1 million hits per day to Google Analytics, results are updated every 24 hours with the result that some metrics may be up to 2 days old when they appear.

The Premium service, in contrast, provides accelerated reporting with a maximum 4 hour period. Fresh data is therefore available to view after a maximum of 4 hours from collection, often within 1 hour.

Data collection limits lifted – raised from 10 million to one 1,000 million hits per month

Users of the standard service are advised not to allow more than 10 million hits (pageviews and similar) to be sent per month as there is no assurance those in excess of 10 million will be processed. In contrast, the GAP service accommodates monthly hit rates of 1,000 million.

Data display limits lifted – raised from 50 thousand to 1 million unique table entries per day

Google Analytics standard edition is limited to displaying 50,000 unique table entries per day in reports. When the limit is reached, the heading “(Other)” is used for the resulting Dimension, although Metrics remain correct.

Data sampling limits both lifted – raised from 500 thousand to 50 million visits per ad-hoc query – and selectable (on or off) for exported reports

Sampling in Google Analytics is the practice of selecting a subset of website traffic data during collection and when producing reports. It allows faster report processing when the volume of data is so large as to slow down query execution.

Sampling is widely used in statistical analysis because, most often, analyzing a subset of data gives similar results to analyzing all of it. For a website having many millions of pageviews per month, sampling the collected traffic data keeps the data volume down to acceptable levels and allows reports to be produced in a reasonable period of time. Even if the data is not sampled at collection time, certain types of report will contain sampled results, depending on the nature of the query. This second type is called Report sampling (aka Fast Access Mode)

The problem with sampling is that it introduces unacceptably large inaccuracies in the reporting of infrequent events which, in general, are scattered unevenly within the large volume of frequent events. Infrequent events are those that constitute the ‘long tail’ and have more value in commercial analysis than their volume might indicate.

In the standard GA service, there are two particular thresholds which trigger Report sampling. The first applies to any type of query where the product of the maximum number of displayed items in a reported dimension multiplied by the number days in the period is restricted to 1 million. The second applies to special queries in which the dimension set requested is not a pre-defined one. In this case, there is a limit of 500,000 to the number of sessions that are processed.

With GA Premium, large reports can be requested for export, directly from the User Interface, using unsampled data. The errors introduced by sampling are eliminated and decision makers can be sure of seeing an accurate picture.

Data export limits raised – from 20 thousand to 1 million records per table

Data can be exported from Google Analytics standard edition to a limit of either 20 thousand rows in csv format or 50 thousand rows to the User Interface. Google Analytics Premium features an un-sampled report export facility up to 1 million rows.

Service level commitments backed by contractual guarantees

The Terms of Service for the standard Google Analytics service do not guarantee any particular service levels or any particular accuracy of reporting. Google Analytics Premium, by contrast, offers Terms of Service whose conditions are similar to those of other high-availability commercial data processing products. The Terms of Service, including the definition of Service Levels and description of the Technical Support service, are incorporated into the supply agreement between ivantage and our customer.

Completely revised and upgraded Terms of Service

The ‘Google Analytics Premium Terms of Service’ is entirely distinct from the standard ‘Google Analytics Terms of Service’. Among other things, it contains ‘EXHIBIT A – SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT’.

Customer has ownership of collected and stored Google Analytics Premium data

The ToS confirm that ownership of Customer Data remains with the Account holder and may be exported in aggregate form at any time

The Terms of Service state under proprietary rights: “As between the parties, You own all intellectual property rights in Customer Data, Web Properties and the Website.”

Data collection – a contractual service level of 99.9% over any calendar month

Google will use its reasonable endeavours to ensure that the Service collects Customer Data at least 99.9% of the time, calculated on a monthly basis, . . .

In the event of Google’s failure to achieve the stated service levels, it will make penalty payments in the form of credits against future service fees. The size of the penalty payments extends from 25% to 100%, depending on the amount of data collection down time.

Reporting – a contractual service level of 99% over any calendar month

Google will use its reasonable endeavours to ensure that the reporting interface for the Service (“Google Analytics Premium Reporting Interface”) is available for use at least 99% of the time, calculated on a monthly basis, . . .

As for data collection, in the event of Google’s failure to achieve the stated service levels, it will make penalty payments in the form of credits against future service fees. The size of the penalty payments extends from 25% to 100%, depending on the duration of the Reporting interface’s non-availability.

Data processing – a contractual service level that data will be processed within 4 hours of collection for more than 98% of the time during any calendar month

Google will use its reasonable endeavours to ensure that the Service processes collected Customer Data within 4 hours of receipt 98% of the time, calculated on a monthly basis, . . .

In the event of Google’s failure to achieve the stated service levels, it will make penalty payments in the form of credits against future service fees. The size of the penalty payments extends from 25% to 100%, depending on the amount of data processing down time.

Although the Data Processing SLA commits to customer data being processed within 4 hours, it is expected that a period of 1 hour or less will be the typical experience.

ivantage added value – account management, implementation,
support and world-class training

At the start of a Google Analytics Premium engagement, ivantage's support team will provide audit and implementation services, followed by on-going training, support and configuration management during the entire period when Google Analytics Premium is in service.

Detailed audit of an existing Google Analytics implementation to ensure data accuracy

If there is an existing Google Analytics implementation, ivantage will audit the installation for data accuracy and to assess how the users’ requirements are being met.

Implementation or re-implementation (as necessary) by ivantage using our best practice Web Analytics Implementation and Configuration (WAIC) Methodology

In the event that there is no existing Google Analytics installation or that an existing one needs remedial action – or perhaps the set-up can benefit from new features and/or additional requirements – then ivantage will undertake the necessary implementation.

It is the Account Manager's responsibility to ensure the implementation project is delivered successfully, on time and to budget. The Account Manager is the day to day contact for the project and ensures that the client’s and ivantage’s resources collaborate efficiently and effectively.

The Account Manager is guided by our best practice Web Analytics Implementation Methodology, developed over nine years’ experience implementing web analytics installations based on Urchin and Google Analytics. The methodology comprises seven key processes :

On-site and on-line user and technical training devised by ivantage’s highly commended Google Seminar Leaders

Following audit and initial implementation, the client’s team can benefit from top quality training provided on-site to any depth, or by public courses scheduled regularly at venues in London, UK and Texas, USA. For shorter feature learning, online meetings can be conducted at short notice between relevant personnel and any of ivantage's team.

Named Account Manager assigned to ensure complete understanding of the website and commercial objectives

The Account Manager is both technically proficient and experienced in project and account management. He/she is the customer’s day-to-day operational contact who may be considered as a natural extension of the customer’s marketing and Web development teams. The Account Manager will not only be an experienced Google Analytics expert, but will also aim to understand the business, website and its commercial objectives in order to advise on and help deliver the maximum value to the business.

Monthly report delivery with follow-up web meeting to highlight key points, insights and actions

The Account Manager will deliver at the end of every month a document detailing highlights, lowlights, and insights in the web site’s commercial performance against pre-defined KPIs. The report will detail key actions that should be taken to improve the site’s commercial performance in agreed areas such as SEO, PPC, display, usability, experience and conversion.

Regular face-to-face meetings to consolidate key learning, revise strategies and review actions

As a follow-up to the monthly report, the Account Manager will follow-up with on-line meetings to discuss the report and its conclusions. He/she will also aim to meet the client's team at least once a quarter to review reports in more detail and discuss any planned campaigns or initiatives that may impact measurement.

On-going help with configuration and management of accounts, profiles, users, filters and goals

ivantage will be available to advise and help the client's team add, delete or modify Google Analytics configuration objects such as accounts, profiles, users filters and goals in order to help them direct the appropriate information to each user of analytical output.

On-going help with configuration and deployment for Google Analytics features such as events, e-commerce, social media events and custom variables

As the client's web analytics' needs and requirements change and as new features appear in Google Analytics, ivantage will be on-hand to help deliver solutions to user requirements and take advantage of new features.  We will advise how new features can be used and, where necessary, deliver detailed implementation documents so the internal or external IT team can implement them.

Contactable support for trained users and administrators 10 x 5, backed by Google

Telephone, email and on-line meeting support will be available 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, to users and administrators trained by ivantage. We aim to respond to support requests within 4 or 8 hours, depending on their priority which the client can specify – “High Priority–P2”, “Normal Priority–P3”, “Low Priority–P4”. As a Premium Reseller we get full backing from Google; it means we have defined escalation policies in place – all the way up to senior management, if necessary – to ensure support issues are resolved quickly and satisfactorily.

Product fault management technical support 24 x 7, backed by Google

In the event of Google Analytics Premium’s data collection or user interface being down, support is available via email and phone 24 x 7. “Critical Priority–P1” issues are responded to within 1 hour and ivantage will provide updates as necessary.

A growing list of Product and Service features exclusive to
Google Analytics Premium

The option to export unsampled reports of up to 1 million rows

Exported reports may be selected for unsampled analysis. Export requests are queued for processing under a new area within custom reports.

Custom variables increased from 5 to 50

Custom Variables, often used for refining visitor segmentation, have been extended, from the standard 5, to 50 allowing the finest visitor segmentation analysis.

Multi-channel attribution modelling

Multi-channel Attribution Modelling takes Multi-channel Funnels a stage further with the facility to apply alternative attribution models.

Models include last click attribution, even distribution across channels, evenly-weighted distribution and equally-weighted first and last click. Such modelling allows analysts to understand the full value of many marketing channels in the media mix and to test hypotheses so as to discover the most insightful attribution model for the industry and product.

Simplified and flexible access control

Access to view stored customer data (including allowing Google to do so) can be granted and removed using simple commands.

Annually renewable contract with predictable fixed price

New and innovative product features will make their first (often only) appearance in GA Premium

Both Google Analytics products will continue to benefit from energetic development activity. It is likely that new and powerful features will debut in Google Analytics Premium and some may be available only from that service.

ivantage and Google Analytics Premium

ivantage is one of just three GA Certified Partners in the UK (one of seven globally) who have been authorised as suppliers of Google Analytics Premium. We supply and support, as described above, all aspects of the product with the full authority and backing of Google who are contractually committed to providing in-depth, tier 3 support.

Now a Google Analytics Premium Reseller, we have been a Google Analytics Certified Partner (pka Google Analytics Authorized Consultant) since 2005 – the launch of Google Analytics. Previously, we were one of only two original Urchin resellers in UK. Urchin was the company and product acquired by Google in 2004, providing Google with the technolgy fundamentals of Google Analytics.

As well as being authorized by Google to sell, implement and support Google Analytics Premium, we provide a full complement of consultancy services, including data interpretation and training.

Over several years, we have developed a range of services for Google Analytics and are part of Google’s Seminars for Success programme in which we train to an approved syllabus on Google products in London, UK and Austin, Dallas and Houston in Texas, USA.

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