Google Analytics

Google Analytics is Google's web and app analytics service: it collects data from a business's websites and apps and turns it into reports about the visitors and what they do. It is part of the Google Marketing Platform.

To measure a website, the owner creates an account and adds a small piece of JavaScript measurement code, the Google tag (gtag.js), to every page. On each visit the code collects pseudonymous data about how the visitor used the page, the browser language and type, the device and operating system, and the traffic source: the search engine, ad or email campaign that brought the visitor. Google processes this data into reports: real-time activity, acquisition (where users come from), engagement and events (user actions), and conversions. Google's machine learning models predict actions such as a purchase or churn. Developers query the data through the Data API and can send events from their own servers with the Measurement Protocol.

The standard version is free of charge. Analytics 360, the enterprise version, is sold through Google's sales team.