14 DAY TRIAL // Amit Agarwal reported that screenshots of a beta version of Analytics, which integrates AdSense data, have been noticed in a blog post on TheGoogleCache. The post has since been removed, possibly in an attempt to keep this secret until launch. Nevertheless, the screenshots revealed several new intriguing features that webmasters would be happy to hear about.
Almost two years ago Google asked Analytics users for suggestions about a possible integration of AdSense data. This created quite a stir and everyone was expecting it to happen much sooner. Now, after two years, it looks like the idea is not dead and in fact a working version is close to being released.
While it is possible to track AdSense user clicks through third-party commercial or free scripts, this future native integration into the popular Analytics tool offers much more. The screenshots show that there is now a new category called AdSense under Contents in the menu of the beta Analytics version. The AdSense contains Overview, Top AdSense Content, Top AdSense Referrers and AdSense Trending.
Using these pages you can find invaluable information like ad clicks per page, generated revenue per page, CTR and CPM for all pages. This allows you to perform tests with different ads in various locations on your website and determine which one generates the most revenue, then plan your AdSense strategy accordingly. You can also sort the pages, find out which content generates most revenue and, most importantly, list the top AdSense referrers.
The Top AdSense Referrers can do the job most affiliate programs do. You can now easily find out how much revenue a referrer generated for you and consequently which referrers are most valuable to you. This is helpful if you want to offer them rewards or incentives.
Both AdSense and Analytics are very useful programs to have, each in its own way, but bringing them together creates a really powerful new tool. This enables webmasters to deploy the best strategies and get the best out of their website traffic.
It's still uncertain how some things will work, some users already expressing concerns about the disclosure of AdSense reports. There is a common practice within companies to share the Analytics account, a user noting in this regard, "we share our analytics data with many members, naturally we wouldn't want them to have access to our adsense reports." Google has not yet made an official announcement in this respect, but the screenshots look real enough to raise considerable interest on many blogs and forums.
