Google Analytics Adds Site Search Reporting & Event Tracking; Urchin Software Also Updated

Google announced today at the eMetrics Summit in Washington, D.C. new features for Google Analytics, plus a much desired beta release of Urchin software.

The new Google Analytics features include site search reporting and event tracking.

The site feature will be available worldwide soon, and will enable you to track internal searches on your site and apply those site searches to other metrics on your site. The site search reporting feature also works with Google Custom Search, GSA, Google Mini, and many other non-Google site search products.

The event tracking feature is launching in a limited beta; only those at the eMetrics Summit can sign up for the feature. Event tracking allows webmasters to measure visitor engagement with a site’s interactive elements. You can track user interactions with AJAX, JavaScript, Flash movies, page gadgets, downloads, and other multimedia Web 2.0 experiences.

Google also announced a limited worldwide beta of a new version of Urchin software. Google bought Urchin to create Google Analytics, and many Urchin users were upset with the lack of updated to Urchin. The past version is Urchin 5.0 and runs natively on a server, as opposed to Google Analytics, which is a hosted application. There is a free 90-day trial for the software update, which can be requested through authorized resellers. After the 90-day trial period, Google will be selling the new version for a discounted price to users of Urchin.

Finally, Google Analytics has added six new languages, bringing the total number of supported languages to 25. The new languages are Czech, Hungarian, Portuguese (Portugal), Thai, Filipino, and Indonesian.