StatCounter Upgrades; Is the Future of Analytics Free?

A reliable analytics solution is of great importance to your Web success - remember: you can't manage what you can't measure and you sure won't be able to monetize it either. But is the future of analytics solution "free" (or offered as a supplementary service)?

While many of our readers are strictly Google Analytics vendors there are many other reliable vendors in the space. A good case in point is long-time and well respected vendor StatCounter which today released some notable upgrades to its service plans. Is it enough to help it compete with more visible providers?

StatCounter announced that its paying subscribers are to receive a free upgrade of their log quota of at least 100%. For example, those on the $9 a month plan can upgrade from a 1,500 log quota to 10,000 at no extra cost (an increase of over 500%). Those on the free website analytics service plan from StatCounter will continue to receive free lifetime stats and detailed information on the most recent 500 hits. In addition, StatCounter has announced a new lower cost entry level upgrade for $5 per month which covers an additional 5,000 logs. At the top end StatCounter has announced an upgrade to 1 million logs.

"This is very much part of our philosophy of reinvesting back into our platform for the benefit of our members who have demonstrated fantastic loyalty to us," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "Paying members should log in to the StatCounter site and click 'Adjust Log' to activate their free upgrade."

Even with the upgrades from StatCounter and the great value I am sure they provide to their subscribers, should analytics be free? Share your comments below?