I have seen a bunch of announcements that the good guys at ZAAZ are going to be supporting Google Analytics. According to Brett Crosby (another good guy), “The model that we’ve put together with Zaaz for the high end of the market is that the data is free, and you pay for what you need with ZAAZ.”

Back in my old job I hammered on Google’s need to actually support the application. Not just installation support; actually supporting their customers efforts to learn about web analytics and how web data analysis can help them better run their business. It looks like this announcement is a step in that direction.

The risk I see, specifically to ZAAZ, is that if they’re able to successfully shift the desire for value-added analytics services from the “Fortune 500 companies to smaller online merchants” (Shane Atchinson, ZAAZ’s CEO’s words) then ZAAZ will be immediately and hopelessly backlogged with work.

Yeah, the kind of problem we all want to have, but still a problem.

It will be really interesting to see how the next few months go for Jason, Shane and company supporting Google Analytics and whether similar announcements follow. I wish all involved all the best!