Twitter takes on Google with Web Analytics tool

Twitter has launched an analytics tool designed to give web site owners more visibility into the volume of traffic they get from the micro-blogging site and how much of their content is being shared across the Twittersphere.

Twitter Web Analytics has been put together with technology acquired when Twitter bought BackType in July, BackType founder Christopher Golda wrote on the Twitter Developers blog.

"Twitter is a powerful platform for web sites to share content and drive traffic and engagement. However, people have struggled to accurately measure the amount of traffic Twitter is sending to their sites, in part because web analytics software hasn't evolved as quickly as online sharing and social signals," he said.

"Today we're announcing Twitter Web Analytics, a tool that helps web site owners understand how much traffic they receive from Twitter and the effectiveness of Twitter integrations on their sites."

The product has three main benefits: helping web owners to understand how much of their content is being shared across the network; view how much traffic they get from Twitter; and measure the effectiveness of Tweet button integrations.

The tool is set to be rolled out as a pilot this week to a small group of partners, with general availability in the "next few weeks", according to Golda.

The Twitter team is also looking to build a Twitter Web Analytics API for developers keen to embed Twitter data into their offerings.

Twitter Web Analytics should be welcomed by web owners keen to measure the value of the burgeoning site.

Google Analytics already allows site owners to see the amount of traffic coming via Google, and other tools can generate basic stats on Tweet button effectiveness, but Twitter Web Analytics promises more fine-grained detail when it is launched.