Google Launches New Data Tools for Marketers

Google’s campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Online advertising giant Google unveiled a new suite of marketing analytics and data products on Tuesday. The offering, the Google Analytics 360 Suite, will compete with similar marketing “cloud” solutions offered by companies such as Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce and IBM.

The Google suite is compromised of six separate tools, some of which are new, and some of which are updated and repackaged versions of existing products. The idea is to provide marketers with a centralized platform to track and store information about customers and their behaviors.

For example, the tools might help an online retailer understand why a customer initially visited its site, enable it to track the customer’s purchases and actions, and help tailor future advertising and marketing efforts to that person based on that data.

“The suite is designed to give marketers a single view of the entire customer journey,” said Paul Muret, vice president of analytics, display, and video products at Google

One notable introduction is a data management platform, or DMP, called Google Audience Center 360. Google says marketers can use the tool to store and analyze customer data collected across multiple different devices and platforms. The DMP will also connect to ad-buying software offered by Google and others to help inform targeted ad buys.

Another new tool called Google Optimize 360 will enable marketers to personalize their websites for different types of visitors, while the Google Data Studio is designed to turn marketers’ data into interactive reports and dashboards.

The suite will also include an updated analytics feature called Google Analytics 360, formerly called Google Analytics Premium, and an attribution product called Google Attribution 360, formerly known as Adometry.

Many marketers already use similar tools, but they often stitch together technologies from multiple vendors. According to Mr. Muret, marketers might benefit from having all of these tools under one roof, because of Google’s ability to integrate them so closely with each other, and with other Google data and technology.

“We feel like we’re bringing together best-of-breed systems that really help to get to the point where you’re taking advantage of these systems much faster and with much more precision”, Mr. Muret said.

The individual tools in the suite will integrate with non-Google products, however. For example, the Audience Center DMP can be integrated with online ad-buying tools provided by third-parties, as well as its own AdWords and DoubleClick ad products.

“We’re taking an open approach and working to make all the systems interoperable. We recognize we need to interoperate with other platforms to make things more realistic,” Mr. Muret added.

Google isn’t the only company attempting to be a one-stop-shop for marketers’ needs. In recent years companies including Adobe, Oracle and Salesforce have assembled similar suites or “stacks,” designed to help marketers closely track and measure their interactions with customers on the Internet and elsewhere.

Marketers might also be nervous about Google handling more of their data. Some say they’re already concerned with the power the online ad giant wields in the market.

Write to Jack Marshall at [email protected]