Urchin Logfile Software

It’s possible that I’m the only web analyst around who didn’t understand the interplay between Google Analytics and Urchin (but I doubt it.)

I have a customer with Urchin logfile software whom I wanted to upgrade to Google Analytics (and I even got them an invitation from GA while I was at the eMetrics Summit.) While I was at the Summit, their Urchin reseller set up their current Urchin 5.0 software for their new website, and told them that there would be an upgrade. I was sure that Urchin is going to die and will be replaced by Google Analytics completely; after all, Google bought Urchin for just that purpose. However, Tim Seward from The Unofficial Google Analytics Blog assured me that I was wrong — he even called me from his son’s ball game on Saturday morning to tell me how wrong I was. Server side Urchin is not only alive and well, but will be upgraded to Urchin 6 sometime in 2006.

The Google Analytics site says,

Urchin 6 software will not be free when it is released in 2006. However, if you paid for an Advanced Support contract that expired after March 2006, you will be offered a free upgrade to Urchin 6 software when it is available. If you are looking for a free analytics service, please sign up for Google Analytics.

And of course, if you want client side analytics, you have to use GA.

Robbin Steif
LunaMetrics