As with any major upgrade of a software package or online service, people are bound to ask “Is this merely evolution or a revolution”? We hear it about Microsoft products all the time, but now the question is firmly pointed at Google’s re-release of its popular (and free) web analytics platform - Google Analytics.

If you’re familiar with the traditional GA interface it’s clear that the first major change is in the way the data is presented. Gone are the hard, tree-like menu structures. Instead, the console now sports a familiar Web 2.0-type theme - drag and drop functionality, interactive menus and widgets, and cleaner spacing.

The second major change is….wait….just a sec….oh yeah. That’s about it.

What? No drum rolls? No fanfares?

Sorry folks. This one is more evolution than revolution.

There are those who would argue the interface overhaul represents enough of a change to qualify this upgrade as a revolution rather than a simple evolution of the service, and to some degree there is credence in that statement. Cleary, Google spent some serious time thinking about how to make the GA experience a much more fulfilling and informative one, and to that end they’ve succeeded. Although it takes a little getting used to, there are some handy upgrades available that make traversing web data easier and more intuitive.

However, when all the gloss, glitz, and glamour is removed, what’s left? Underneath the Ajax, Flash, and softer font faces lies the same basic tool - a wonderfully powerful web analytics platform that does a fantastic job of tracking ankle-high and knee-deep analytics information, but unfortunately that’s about it.

At the heart of GA lies the Urchin core - and robust as it is, it’s still not the home-run web marketers were hoping for. Improving the user experience of looking at data is very helpful, but it’s still the same data we’ve been looking at for a long time.