So I logged into Google Analytics this morning to check on some of my sites and i was greeted by a little message asking me if i wanted to share my Analytics data between Adsense, Ad Words and Analytics. I thought great, this will allow me to gain much more information when doing other campaigns.
The next tick box down asked if i would allow Google to use my analytics data for anonymous bench marking. I’m a bit weary when a big company like Google asks for users data, but would very much like to see what information (if any) they make available to Joe Public. Will this mean that we can start getting a lot more information about certain verticals when researching Adwords? Or will Google make the information available in Google Trends.
I also wonder how many webmasters are weary about allowing Google to view their site data, and if Google will do the old switcheroo at a later time and start to use Analytics data to factor in SERPS results. I know they do don’t this at the moment as i specifically remember Matt Cutts stating that the spam team does not have any access to the Analytics data.
Anyway, something’s to think about before you click yes, or no.
Google craving for information is concern, but if benchmarking was made available to all, it would allow them to attack people like hitwise and Nelsen, maybe another attempt to capture the analytics market…