Google Analytics now uses machine learning to show you personalized reports automatically

Today Google has introduced a nifty new reporting feature to its Google Analytics app, “Automated Insights.” With the new feature, the app can now show specific reports, which previously would have taken hours to create, as soon as the app is opened.

The new feature, rolling out today on Android and iOS, is not anything particularly new as IBM has very similar functionality through Watson Analytics, but this is a first for a mobile application. While it may seem a bit odd for Google to release this on mobile first (it will debut on the desktop “soon”), there’s definitely a good argument for it.

For many marketers who need to pull up statistics on the go, in a meeting, or on a business trip, their computer may not always be available. With access to this intelligent reporting on mobile, those users can quickly get the info they need without spending a lot of time to get it.

To gather this information, Automated Insights uses machine learning to determine what the user does most when they are using the application. Over time, the service will learn the most used reports and display those right away.

AdvertisingAge spoke with Kevin Lee, executive chairman and co-founder of Didit, a digital agency that specializes in search, and he had the following to say regarding Google’s new feature.

I think what Google is realizing is people tend to exhibit the same behaviors when they pull reports from Analytics. Some people just want to see a geography or conversion report. They see people are exhibiting repeat behaviors and are streamlining the process for them. Google is taking the initiative and wants to let people know that it is going to be like a brain and put things in front of you. Displaying an analytics report before someone’s 3 p.m. meeting can be handy, but it won’t always get things perfect initially. It will have to learn. Sometimes machine learning is just a fancy way of saying ‘putting repeat behavior in front of the user’. It can be like Amazon putting products you’ve previously bought in front of you when you visit their site.