Google's Entrance No Paralysis For Analysis; Not Big Fish Here, Yet; Web analytics software firms target high end, as search leader enters low.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: J. BONASIA

When Internet buzz maker and hot stock Google makes a move, the market listens.

So it was that many ears perked up late last year when the search engine leader said it had started to offer a free service -- Web site analytics -- to its advertisers and any other Web publisher.

You could almost hear the groans coming from the makers of software and providers of services that help companies analyze how well their Web sites are doing.

"It's fair to say that the other vendors have seen Google dip a toe in the water, and they're running in a different direction," said Nate Root, an analyst at Forrester Research.

That other direction is away from the basic analytics that Google is providing for free as a way to attract advertisers. That is, the companies that do Web analytics for a living are looking at the high end of the field.

Case in point: WebSideStory this month bought rival Visual Sciences for $57.3 million.