Index tools goes free - I had the pleasure of using indextools on a couple of websites last year - and can honestly say that it does favourably compete with other much more expensive tools. So, going free with Yahoo is very good news for business (and for Dennis Mortensen - congrats). Lots of talk of whether indextools (yahoo) analytics will provide serious competition for google, depends on how seriously yahoo take their new web analytics solution.

The founder of venture capitalism in America,Georges Doriot (aged 21, Doriot sailed by steamship to the US from his native France and went on to become a brigadier general in the second world war, one of the most influential professors at Harvard Business School and founder of Insead, Europe’s first business school. But his main achievement was to pioneer the US venture capital industry in 1946 by setting up American Research & Development (ARD), which backed one of the first blockbuster technology start-ups, Digital Equipment Corporation).

George Doriot famously said, his strategy relied on backing talent, not technology.

“An average idea in the hands of an able man is worth much more than an outstanding idea in the possession of a person with only average ability,” he said.Not that google analytics or index tools are average, as there is alot of vested interest, and subtle bad PR in this industry, in fact in the hands of a good web analyst, there are both powerful tools - Brian Clifton’s new book on advanced web metrics with google analytics is an example (I am going to his book launch party tonight so I am sure, I will see lots of googlers.) So we will how this one pans out over time, I imagine (with Dennis at the helm, I am sure Yahoo analytics will be a big success). The point being it is the people, the team behind the product that make it or break it (apologies for the cliche).

In the interest of web analytics and my passion for it, I am always, vendor neutral. My passion is in better understanding and improving online behaviour.

Thanks so much for reading and apologies for my recent (infrequent) blog posts, which I very much intend to change.