I was really excited to see the release of Google Analytics this week. I’ve been looking for a better way to track site usage and Weblog Expert just isn’t cutting it anymore. I would suggest that it’s essentially impossible to do site analytics using log files anymore. Spiders, robots, spammers, etc. make your log files into total garbage. Even with significant filtering, you still get mountains of trash.

I was moments away from plunking down “real money” on Visistat to solve this problem, and then Google Analytics came along free of charge.

I’ve been impressed with the data display and am really excited about it, but Google (for the first time I can recall) seems to be completely overwhelmed with traffic. It’s Sunday morning and my reports are still showing Thursday morning data. They target a 24 hour turnaround in report data, but this is a bit crazy. This is what they are telling customers.

Waiting for Data
Analytics has been successfully installed and data is being gathered now. The demand for Google Analytics surpassed even our highest expectations and as a result some customers may temporarily experience report-update delays. All data continues to be collected and no data has been lost. We are currently adding resources to ensure high-quality service. We apologize for any inconvenience.

I’m eagerly waiting for them to deal with the load. Maybe they need to add a few thousand more servers . However, if they can’t get this thing working soon I think they may end up with a real PR problem. Especially considering the target audience, web builders!