Eric Lander over at Search Engine Journal wrote a post on 3 Reasons Google Analytics Fails for SEO which mirrors some of the criticism others in the Web Analytics Community have for Google Analytics (more for non existent segmentation capabilities) but I usually don't expect to hear complaints from the SEO Community (they seem to usually love Google Analytics because it's more powerful than what the used to have and it's free).

But that's not how it went down over at Search Engine Journal when Lander cited Google Analytics Limitations, lack of log files support and Google's total control of all data collected as reasons for SEO and SEM practitioners to stay away from Google Analytics.

In contrast with some in the Web Analytics Community - the article implies that not only is Google Analytics lacking for Search Marketers, but it's falling father and father behind commercial offerings - that sounds odd, since Google has been revamping the interface quite a bit this year.  However, maybe it's true - maybe Google is not putting enough into Google Analytics to make it a worthwhile platform for serious analysis.

"…Before thinking that the product is complete too, leave the analysis to experts in web analytics. According to Matt Durgin’s blog, Forrester Research was less than thrilled by GA…

Google Analytics was reviewed, but ranked far below the commercial solutions — further back than Urchin (whom Google acquired and re-branded as Google Analytics) ever ranked behind its competitors. This could be evidence that Google will not devote the resources to keep up with the commercial solutions on the market. If this trend continues, look for a larger discrepancy between the “free” Google Analytics, and the commercial, professional tools on the market.