TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Analytics

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Analytics is perhaps the best-known web analytics product and, as a free product, it has massive adoption. Although it lacks some enterprise-level features compared to its competitors in the space, the launch of the paid Google Analytics Premium edition seems likely to close the gap.

    $0

    per month

    Microsoft BI (MSBI)

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft BI is a business intelligence product used for data analysis and generating reports on server-based data. It features unlimited data analysis capacity with its reporting engine, SQL Server Reporting Services alongside ETL, master data management, and data cleansing.

    $14

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Editions & Modules
    Google Analytics 360
    150,000
    per year
    Google Analytics
    Free
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    Chose Google Analytics
    Ease of use: Google Analytics is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process, making it accessible for beginners. Adobe Analytics has a steeper learning curve and requires more technical expertise.
    Features: Adobe Analytics offers a more comprehensive …
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Analytics
    We wanted to try out a new program as IBM analytics was a bit pricey and our company has been trying to cut in areas of our budget in order to provide service for recent hurricane claims and to upgrade offices in the Northeast. This was a good solution to the budget issue, but …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    We initially considered Google Analytics, but eventually decided against it due to the licensing terms and the associated software that we would need to incorporate. IBM Cognos is great at what it does, as long as you are trying to integrate with software that is on their …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    The biggest player against Microsoft BI (MSBI) was Tableau, which was acquired by Salesforce. Recently there have been other standalone software/applications that provide similar functionality to Microsoft BI (MSBI). Because my company is a Microsoft shop, we have not explored …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    The other programs listed are excellent. I have always been a fan of Google products because they are user-friendly and easily accessible by most. They also produce excellent data outputs. Google is still great for companies of any size but I believe Microsoft BI is an even …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Microsoft BI is very well suited to implement reporting and visualization within departments. Choosing Microsoft BI over tools like Tableau is the variety of third party apps it extracts data from. This functionality is limited in Tableau as it digests data from large data …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Looking at the visualization portion of BI, there are three types of tools.
    1. Programming packages. Free and powerful, they let you make any diagram, at the cost of difficulty of use.
    2. Specialist software like Tableau and Microsoft BI. This is the best choice in most cases due to …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    101 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    100 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    104 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    77 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    87 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    Features
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Web Analytics
    Comparison of Web Analytics features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    8.4
    11 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    -
    Ratings
    Lead Conversion Tracking8.210 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bounce Rate Measurement8.410 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device and Browser Reporting9.311 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pageview Tracking9.111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event Tracking8.411 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting in real-time7.810 Ratings00 Ratings
    Referral Source Tracking8.610 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Dashboards7.910 Ratings00 Ratings
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.546 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings9.653 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.951 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.548 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.253 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.342 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.953 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings9.348 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings9.148 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.444 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.547 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.426 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings9.651 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.748 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.745 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings8.76 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.449 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings9.347 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.949 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings9.36 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.431 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.239 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings8.030 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.839 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Google Analytics and Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Feature
    Google Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings9.221 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings8.821 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings8.820 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.718 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.021 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings7.319 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Small Businesses
    Matomo Analytics
    Score9 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Lead Forensics
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Chartbeat
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (193 ratings)
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (51 ratings)
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    Usability
    7.4
    (19 ratings)
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (42 ratings)
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    Configurability
    6.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google AnalyticsMicrosoft BI (MSBI)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    Google Analytics is particularly well suited for tracking and analyzing customer behavior on a grocery e-commerce platform. It provides a wealth of information about customer behavior, including what products are most popular, what pages are visited the most, and where customers are coming from. This information can help the platform optimize its website for better customer engagement and conversion rates. However, Google Analytics may not be the best tool for more advanced, granular analysis of customer behavior, such as tracking individual customer journeys or understanding customer motivations. In these cases, it may be more appropriate to use additional tools or solutions that provide deeper insights into customer behavior.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI has a lot of features and is a very powerful tool, especially if you have folks on your team that know how to utilize all of its capabilities. To truly unlock all that it can do, it does require people to have a deep understanding of its capabilities. That's where the software really shines. If you are looking for a simpler, more basic reporting tool, there are other programs available that do not require such a steep learning curve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • Multiple reports to see website use and behavior
    • Allows you to customize reports with days, weeks, months, and years
    • You can build out a dashboard to easily view stats from multiple websites in one place
    • You can share analytics reports via the dashboard, automatically emailed PDFs or in other formats
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Comparatively easy to use compared to other data analytics solutions, collaborating with other colleagues on data work is simple.
    • Using Visual Studio for database, ETL, reporting, and analytics development save time and money.
    • Transfer of data from one application to another via Excel and comparison of data attributes between applications
    • Dashboard functionality, as well as Python support, are available, allowing you to add additional charts and graphs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • Data sampling is somewhat inaccurate on the free tier - this is addressed in premium but is expensive.
    • Some of the UI is very similar in naming when presenting different data, some in-situ information might be useful.
    • Gotchas around filtering and data validation.
    • Implementation can be tricky, it can take a lot of time and expertise to get a full, accurate picture of your metrics.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • MSBI designs can work on increasing data processing capabilities enough to handle the huge datasets etc.
    • It would be a lot better if it is a little low on cost.
    • it needs to create opportunities little more than they do regarding customization of some very unique visualization effects
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    We will continue to use Google Analytics for several reasons. It is free, which is a huge selling point. It houses all of our ecommerce stores' data, and though it can't account for refunds or fraud orders, gives us and our clients directional, real time information on individual and group store performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI is fundamental to our suite of BI applications. That being said, Northcraft Analytics is focused on delighting our customers, so if the underlying factors of our decision change, we would choose to re-write our BI applications on a different stack. Luckily, mathematics are the fundamental IP of our technology... and is portable across all BI platforms for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Google
    Google Analytics provides a wealth of data, down to minute levels. That is it's greatest detriment: find the right information when you need it can be a cumbersome task. You are able to create shortcuts, however, so it can mitigate some of this problem. Google is continually refining Analytics, so I do not doubt there will be improvements
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The Microsoft BI tools have great usability for both developers and end users alike. For developers familiar with Visual Studio, there is little learning curve. For those not, the single Visual Studio IDE means not having to learn separate tools for each component. For end-users, the web interface for SSRS is simple to navigate with intuitive controls. For ad-hoc analysis, Excel can connect directly to SSAS and provide a pivot table like experience which is familiar to many users. For database development, there is beginning to be some confusion, as there are now three tool choices (VS, SSMS, Azure Data Studio) for developers. I would like to see Azure Data Studio become the superset of SSMS and eventually supplant it.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    We all know Google is at top when it comes to availability. We have never faced any such instances where I can suggest otherwise. All you need is a Google account, a device and internet connection to use this super powerful tool for reporting and visualising your site data, traffic, events, etc. that too in real time.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Google
    This has been a catalyst for improving our site's traffic handling capabilities. We were able to identify exit% from our sites through it and we used recommendations to handle and implement the same in our sites. We have been increasing the usage of Google Analytics in our sites and never had any performance related issues if we used Analytics
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) can drag at times. We created two report servers and placed them under an F5 load balancer. This configuration has worked well. We have seen sluggish performance at times due to the Windows Firewall.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Google
    The Google reps respond very quickly. However, sometimes they can overly call you to set up an apportionment. I'm very proficient and sometimes when I talk to reps, they give beginner tutorials and insights that are a waste of time. I wish Google would understand my level of expertise and assign me to a rep (long-term) that doesn't have to walk me through the basics.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    MSBI natively has a site that allows you to vote on user enhancements and bug fixes. This allows the largest nagging issues to float to the top and the development team can prioritize accordingly. As mentioned earlier, the large community base of MSBI developers assist technical resources in handling technical questions.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Google
    love the product and training they provide for businesses of all sizes. The following list of links will help you get started with Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented by Google Analytics.
    1. How to Use Google Analytics for Beginners – Mahalo’s how-to guide for beginners.
    2. A beginner’s guide to Google Analytics – A free eBook walking you through Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented.
    3. Getting to Know Your Google Analytics Dashboard – The title says it all! This is a brief post with one goal: to introduce you to the Google Analytics dashboard.
    4. Google Analytics for Beginners: How to Make the Most of Your Traffic Reports– This guide doesn’t cover setup, but it does a great job of helping you to better understand the data being presented.
    5. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 1: Setup – A video presentation that walks you through Google Analytics setup.
    6. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 2: Essential Stats – A video presentation that introduces you to some of the most important data being presented in Google Analytics.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I have used on-line training from Microsoft and from Pragmatic Works. I would recommend Pragmatic Works as the best way to get up to speed quickly, and then use the Microsoft on-line training to deep dive into specific features that you need to get depth with.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    I think my biggest take away from the Google Analytics implementation was that there needs to be a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it before you start. Originally the analytics were added to track visitors, but as we became more savvy with the product, we began adding more and more functionality, and defining guidelines as we went along. While not detrimental to our success, this lack of an overarching goal resulted in some minor setbacks in implementation and the collection of some messy data that is unusable.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We are a consulting firm and as such our best resources are always billing on client projects. Our internal implementation has weaknesses, but that's true for any company like ours. My rating is based on the product's ease of implementation.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    I have not used Adobe Analytics as much, but I know they offer something called customer journey analytics, which we are evaluating now. I have used Semrush, and I find them much better than Google Analytics. I feel a fairly nontechnical person could learn Semrush in about a month. They also offer features like competitive analysis (on content, keywords, traffic, etc.), which is very useful. If you have to choose one among Semrush and Google Analytics, I would say go for Semrush.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We have used the built in ConnectWise Manager reports and custom reports. The reports provide static data. PowerBI shows us live data we can drill down into and easily adjust parameters. It's much more useful than a static PDF report.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Google
    Google Analytics is currently handling the reporting and tracking of near about 80 sites in our project. And I am not talking about the sites from different projects. They may have way more accounts than that. Never ever felt a performance issue from Google's end while generating or customising reports or tracking custom events or creating custom dimensions
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • It has helped us gain understanding of what is going on on our website.
    • It has helped us determine areas that need fixing (i.e. pages with extremely high bounce rates may need to be redone).
    • It has helped us understand our biggest avenues for bringing traffic to the website and business in general.
    • It has helped guide our website redesign.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • As a SaaS provider we see being able to provide self-service BI to our client users as a competitive advantage. In fact the MSSQL enabled BI is a contributing factor to many winning RFPs we have done for prospective client organisations.
    • However MSSQL BI requires extensive knowledge and skills to design and develop data warehouses & data models as a foundation to support business analysts and users to interrogate data effectively and efficiently. Often times we find having strong in-house MSSQL expertise is a bless.
    Incentivized
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