Google Analytics Premium Vs. Adobe Analytics

Web analytics software can enable a business to slice and dice numerous web data metrics and dimensions so they can analyze it, and interpret it to increase sales, identify a new market segment, test website performance, optimize the user experience, or determine promotion or event success.  Monitoring your web insights will guide you and your business to make continual decisions based on facts and not hunches to maximize your marketing ROI.

There are numerous analytics software programs available, but in an effort to keep it simple I will compare two popular choices; Google Analytics Premium and Adobe Analytics (formerly Site Catalyst). Each platform has its advantages so I have outlined the pros and cons for each, so you can determine if either program aligns with your business and the resources you have to run them.   

 VS. 

When you are looking for a web analytics solution, here are a few things to consider:

• What is their pricing structure?
• How many page views per month can the solution track?
• Do I have the resources to implement and run it?
• Can you reanalyze data if you decide to change something?
• Can you reanalyze subsets of your logs for more focused views?
• Can you accomplish your goals with free web analytics?
• What types of data collection options are available?
• Can you integrate with other sources of data?
• What level of support can I expect?

Price

The basic Google Analytics program is free; however, it only allows you up to 10 million hits per month.  Google Analytics Premium offers a number of enhancements and more customization and will process up to 1 billion hits per month for an annual flat fee of $150,000 (Google Analytics, 2014).

Adobe Analytics cost varies according to traffic volume and the service level and needs of your company and has no monthly hit limit (Adobe, 2014).  You have to call for a quote.

Usability and Implementation:

Google Premium is by far more user-friendly and is intended to be accessible and intuitive for the many.  It is easily implemented on your website and requires no special IT or programming skills. Google Analytics does offer implementation for custom variables and most recently includes custom dimensions and metrics and cost uploads for paid campaigns (Google Analytics, 2014).

Adobe Analytics, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. Adobe’s analytics platform is intended for professionals and thrives on providing depth along with completely customizable experiences, both of which require training to understand anything beyond basic metrics (Chianis, 2013).  Adobe demands the skills of a professional to implement the upfront work and maintain highly customized data reports that can be tailored to the needs of the business, which may considered more valuable.

Functionality:

Adobe Analytics is a true web analytics tool with data capability that runs broad and deep. While the interface is less than intuitive, the quality of data and reporting presentation is high. You can configure custom reports and export large data sets easily into multiple formats through the job scheduling service.  Because the program is so customizable, there is a large degree of flexibility and extensive advanced functionality for conversions, referrals, path analysis and segmentation (Chainis, 2013). Features like Adwords is integrated through Search Center, granular segmentations is accessed through Discover, A/B testing is implemented through Test & Target, raw data access is through Data Warehouse, meaning, they are not automatically integrated into the program.  Adobe Analytics also allows you to track visitors at the IP address level and have unlimited user levels. On the flipside, it takes a high level of effort to implement and maintain Adobe Analytics, there are limitations to multi-session paths to conversion and attribution modeling and you have to pay for training and support.

Google Analytics Premium is user-friendly and intuitive program that provides a lot of the already integrated marketing analytics tools like Adwords, Google Display Network and Media Attribution.  Premium is easily manipulated and will give you a maximum of 50 custom variables (Google Analytics, 2014), however, Adobe Analytics provides 250 custom variables, 75 traffic variables, 100 event variables and 75 conversion variables, which can be set to capture whatever you’d like (Adobe Analytics, 2014). What you don’t get with Premium is a really granular drill down into the data and access to the raw data. Premium is incorporating multi-device tracking while Adobe Analytics already has that capability, but it is cumbersome to setup (McClendon, E. 2013).  While Adobe Analytics has robust report capability, Premium has customized data visualization, intuitive reporting and default variables making reporting simple.

Training and Support:

Google Analytics has an online Help Center and easy-to-follow online tutorials in the Analytics Academy to gain a better understanding of Google Analytics and data analysis.  Google Analytics Premium provides access to an expert in account management for implementation and training as a part of the annual fee.

Adobe Analytics offers online tutorials and fee-based onsite user training support.  They also offer account management support as a part of their service.

This or that?

To sum it up, Adobe Analytics is complex and requires a technical user, which may require costly outside consultative resources to implement and maintain on top of the annual fee. Since it is so powerful and requires specialized responsibility, it can create a bottleneck in the data process since fewer people have the ability to use it. 

While Premium has a flat fee, Adobe’s pricing model depends on traffic and service level making budgeting and cost more of a risk.  It is loved in the agency world, because it ties into Adobe’s Marketing Suite, Test & Target, Digital Pulse and Search Center saving time and money (Singh, 2013). 

To weigh your options, you must consider how much incoming traffic your site receives and what type of reports can be produced.  Monthly hits max out at one billion for Premium. For medium to large businesses that require an enterprise system to track a plethora of events, goals and variables and has the technical resources in place to implement the custom reports and maintain it’s complexity Adobe Analytics may be the appropriate choice.

Bottom line. Premium is nimble, intuitive and user-friendly.  Adobe Analytics is powerful, data heavy and highly customizable.  To decide, you must look at your business today and select the tool that will allow you to grow with technology in today’s landscape of multi-devices.

Words of Caution

The caveat for most analytics solutions is that if a visitor has JavaScript or cookies disabled there is limited data gathering functionality.  Cookies allow you to track returning visitors; JavaScript lets you capture multiple variables about a visitor and the browser they are using.  Without cookies and JavaScript enabled, you will only have limited reporting capabilities (Lee, n.d.).