Google Analytics releases a new feature two weeks ago, allowing sites to anonymously share data with comparable sites. Benchmarking site traffic has been something we've suggested to clients in the past, and in a few cases have facilitated it on a small scale. But now, you can compare how your blog, online community, association, or non-profit's website compares to peers who also use GA. I'd stress that you're comparing yourself to other peers who use the service and choose to share the data so there is some selection bias, and its up to Google to decide who you are compared with. Still, it makes available data that would otherwise be expensive or impossible to get, and as more sites otp to share their traffic, it can get better. You can learn how to enable this and what you can compare over at googlesystem.

The system is very beta at the moment, and the "Verticals" used to categorize sites are few at the moment. It can still help answer questions like:

• What are overall traffic patterns in my sector?
• Is my traffic growth/decline part of an overall traffic growth/decline or unique to my site?
• What's an "average" site like mine get in Page Visits/Visitors/Bounce Rate/New Vistors, and how do I compare?
  

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