When Google made their newly acquired Urchin web analytics service available for free, some pundits claimed an untimely end to the web analytics industry. According to a recent report from Forrester Research High-end web analytics vendors have little to fear from Google Inc.'s free web analytics service.

Google analytics appeal primarily to small and medium-sized businesses that lack a web analytics program or possess a rudimentary free/semi-free service like SiteMeter or StatCounter.

Google web analytics is a self-service program with a basic access control model, no custom reports, no e-mail support for reports, no data import capability and limited export capability, according to Forrester study.

It lacks integration with major e-mail vendors and support for multiple search vendors and affiliate networks.

The report mentions that it supports integration with AdSense. As far as I know that is not true.

Retailers also will hesitate to purchase analytics from the same vendor that sells them ads, Forrester said.

I think Google is effectively poised to kill the low end market and yet it may in a strange way boost the high-end web analytics industry. With increased awareness of web analytics and free availability to everyone, companies will be forced to invest with high-end solutions in order to get as much leverage as is possible with advanced web analytics solutions.