14 DAY TRIAL // Google Analytics Intelligence is getting a couple of new features. In the Custom Alerts report, the likely sources of a traffic change are now listed. Users now also have the option to be notified via SMS, in the US, or multiple emails when a Custom Alert is triggered.
In order to make Custom Alert reports more informative, Google introduced the Major Contributors section which, as the name implies, displays the biggest sources of a significant traffic change and other relevant information. This enables webmasters to not only know when a change has occurred, but also why.
"When you have a custom alert set up to capture important changes in your account, you can now see a break down of the individual segments that are the most likely instigators of the change in traffic," Beth Liebert, from the Google Analytics team, wrote.
"Now, as you can see underneath that Custom Alert there is a new sub-section called 'Major Contributors.' When Google Analytics detects causes to a major change in traffic, this section will display up to 5 segments that have contributed to that particular change," he explained.
It's interesting that the Analytics Intelligence report doesn't list just the source of traffic, but other key data such as the landing page, the full referral path and even geographic data about the visitors.
Along with the new data, you can also receive more notifications when a Custom Alert is triggered. Users can now set up a SMS notification, for any alert they use. This only works in the US, for now.
Also new is the possibility to set up multiple email addresses for the same Custom Alert so that more people are notified at the same time.
Of course, all of this depends on whether you have Custom Alerts set up in the first place. These alerts can be a very useful tool for keeping an eye on abnormal traffic, be it a big surge or an unexpected drop in visitors.