Google has officially released version 6.6 of Urchin Software.
This is a significant upgrade, with lots of new features, particularly if you manage PPC campaigns.
Below is a list of some of the new features added/upgraded in Urchin 6.6
Deeper integration with Google AdWords
- Budget Alerts: Users are warned if the budget for an AdWords campaign is
in imminent danger of being exhausted. This information is provided
automatically from the AdWords system. - Keyword Generation Tool: This allows you to generate pertinent keywords
and to see projected performance/budget information. It also allows
you to add newly generated keywords and delete existing keywords from
AdWords campaigns. - Direct links to the AdWords system: this feature allow you to navigate
directly from Urchin to the appropriate screen in your AdWords account,
bypassing the login process (assuming you have entered your AW account info
into Urchin previously) - The Urchin Tag Manager (or, “semi auto-tagging”): this feature inserts a
dynamic keyword insertion tag {keyword} in ad destination URLs. This feature
simplifies the URL tagging process and allows you to easily import AdWords
cost data into Urchin. See this AdWords help
article for more information. - AdWords Optimizer: this allows you to optimize your campaign in Urchin and
automatically propagate changes into AdWords. - Copy Campaign Tool: this allows you to copy keyword campaigns into your
AdWords account from other campaigns or other ad networks such as Yahoo
Search Marketing. - Advertiser View and Advertisement Optimization reporting section: Both An Advertiser View profile template and an Advertisement Optimization section
have been added to provide additional options for advertisement-related
reports and to support the above mentioned AdWords-related features.
New reports
- “Time On Site” report: this report shows the length of time visitors spent on the site in question. It is located under Content Optimization -> Content Performance -> Engagement Metrics.
- “Performance Comparison” report: this report allows you to compare
Campaign, Keyword and Content performance across sources/mediums (e.g.
Google|CPC vs Yahoo|organic). It is located in Advertisement Optimization ->
Marketing Campaign Results. - “CPC Structure” reports: this set of reports is found under Advertisement Optimization. CPC Structure analyzes your campaigns in a handy drilldown tree structure.
- “Campaign View” report: this report displays paid UTM campaign information (Google and Yahoo campaigns supported).
- “Keywords View” report: this report displays paid keyword information.
Data API
The Data Export API allows you to retrieve Urchin reporting data via SOAP
1.x and REST protocols. Read more about the API in the help center
article.
External Authentication (LDAP)
In addition to Urchin-specific authentication (now called ‘Native’),
Urchin 6.6 supports external authentication that can be configured on a ‘per
user’ basis. External authentication modules for LDAP and MSAD are provided
with Urchin 6.6, while custom modules can be integrated by modifying the
configuration files.
New Urchin “Home” Page, or the Rollup Report
The Urchin “home” page (the one you get just after logging in) has been
modified to provide metrics for all the profiles that are visible to the
logged-in user. Profile metrics are provided for the current day (today)
and the most recent week, month and year.
Automated CPC Data Import from Yahoo Search Marketing (YSM)
Urchin 6.6 allows you to import CPC data from Yahoo Search Marketing in
addition to AdWords. YSM campaigns may be copied into an AdWords account
via the newly introduced Copy Campaign tool.
Miscellaneous
Urchin 6.6, like Urchin 5, allows you to cancel a running log processing
job gracefully (without corrupting the database).
Bug Fixes & Feature Enhancements
- AdministrationIn Urchin 6.5 and prior versions, profile-related folders were not renamed
when a profile was renamed on the admin interface. This has been fixed. - Log ProcessingIn certain cases, urchin was encountering segmentation fault while
processing ELF2 logs. This was resulting in incomplete log processing job
and inconsistent reporting data. This has been fixed.Incorrect treatment of the profile’s local-time configuration during log
processing was resulting in the reporting data being shifted by hours in the
months. This was happening for the months when day light saving starts or
ends for the selected profile’s timezone. This has been fixed. - SSL SupportA problem with connecting to Urchin via https on Windows 2003 has been
fixed. - UtilitiesThe reporting data migration utility (convert-u5data) has been
significantly improved. A problem with importing large amounts of data from
Urchin 5.7 into Urchin 6.6 has been fixed. - MiscellaneousThe Urchin Embedded Help and various online Urchin Help Center articles
have been updated.
Important Usage Notes
MySQL: Urchin 6.6 does not support MySQL 4.x.x. Your existing MySQL
instance must be upgraded to MySQL 5.03+ in order for Urchin 6.6 to function
properly.
Client-side Cookies
To facilitate enhanced interaction in the reporting interface, Urchin 6.6
uses client-side cookies. Proper viewing of reports requires that
client-side cookies be enabled in the client browser.
Restricted usage under ‘Demo’ License
Urchin 6.6 introduces certain demo license restrictions. Profiles and log
sources are limited to 5 each. There is no limit on filters, cpc sources,
users, accounts or groups.
Upgrading
Urchin 6.6 introduces a new report section. After upgrading from earlier
versions, these reports may not show any data. We recommend reprocessing
existing profiles to populate the new reports.
As I said at the beginning, LOTS of great new features! If you are looking for a reasonably priced solution for hosting your own analytics or data warehousing, Urchin may be the solution you’re looking for.
For more information on Google Analytics 360 or other analytics platforms, contact us.
