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Customers upset with Google over Urchin software
By xaby | October 8, 2007
October 04, 2007 (IDG News Service) — A major upgrade to Google Inc.’s Urchin Web analytics server software is almost three years late and customers who bought the product worry that Google’s silence and inaction may mean it will be discontinued.
Google acquired Urchin Software two and a half years ago, and since then has focused mostly on its hosted software-as-a-service (SAAS) product and apparently little on its packaged server software, upsetting the latter’s customers.
One concerned company is United Diamonds Inc., which spent about $10,000 for the core Urchin software, additional modules and a support contract several months before Google acquired Urchin in March 2005.
For the Sun City, Calif., diamond vendor, which has about 25 employees, this was a significant expense, said United Diamonds principal Bruce Larsen. Still, the company justified the purchase because its Web site is its primary sales channel, and it needed a clear view into its usage by visitors and potential customers, Larsen said.
Companies use Web analytics software to track, measure and analyze their Web sites’ traffic. This information can help a company decide how to modify its site’s layout to increase sales, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns.
In addition to Urchin’s technology, United Diamonds also liked that, as a vendor, Urchin seemed like a good partner, Larsen said. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as Larsen expected.
A major upgrade to the software — Version 6.0 — due in late 2004 still hasn’t been released. Even worse, Google won’t say when, or even if, version 6.0 will ship.
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