Google Analytics Opt-Out Add-On Is Out

That title was more fun to write than I thought it would be.

Back in March I mentioned that Google had decided that it would let users opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics (Google to Let Users Opt Out of Analytics Tracking). That day is here. News sites all over the web lit up today with the news that the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (BETA) is now available for download. And yes, that is its real name. It’s still listed as a beta product, and it’s only available for Internet Explorer (versions 7 and 8), Google Chrome (4.x and higher), and Mozilla Firefox (3.5 and higher).

There does seem to be a little something odd about adding more cruft to your browser to disable the cruft people have added to their sites to see how you surf their cruft. And this is assuming you believe that Google would release a free product to the end user that disables a free product targeted at site developers that also supports their paid Adwords product. Considering all the privacy flack Facebook has felt lately, however, it makes sense that Google wants to be able to say they are staying ahead of these issues. Google’s download page explains… not much:

To provide website visitors with more choice about how their data is collected by Google Analytics, we have developed the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.

To repeat myself from March, if you really want to surf anonymously, run Netscape Navigator 2 or version 3 with JavaScript disabled through an anonymous proxy. From a cave.

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village