Google Analytics was originally developed from the Urchin on Demand software that Google acquired in the spring of 2005 (Urchin is still developed and available through value-added resellers). The first Google-branded version was released in November 2005.

In 2006, further ideas from Measure Map (developed by Adaptive Path) were integrated into analytics when Google acquired them.

Early on, analytics was available by invitation only, as demand for the product was very high. It wasn’t fully available to all users until nearly a year after its initial release (August 2006).

Google Analytics is geared toward small and medium-sized retail websites. The service has limitations that make it less suited to more complex websites and larger enterprises. For example, the system collects data through a JavaScript page tag inserted in the code of pages the user wants to collect data on. The page tag functions as a web bug to gather visitor information.

However, because it’s reliant on cookies, the system can’t collect data for users who have disabled them. Google also uses sampling in its reports rather than analysing all available data.