Microsoft just announced that they don’t want to play in the FREE Web Analytics Market. A statement which immediately brings forth the question; what is the future of free web analytics?

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo Web Analytics Dashboards are, at worst, unfortunately just a report collage – and, at best, an aspiring opportunity for tail users to have an easy ascent towards true Dashboards. Yahoo is proving the best flexibility in what data to show and how to visualize it, but Google provides the best understanding of how to visually communicate quantitative data, where the Microsoft Dashboard lack both data flexibility and understanding of how to visualize it.