Since the acquisition by Google of Urchin earlier this year, pricing has been $199/mo and now Google has decided to change Urchin over to Google Analytics and offer it for free!

The free version is limited to 5 million pageviews a month but the limit is is removed if you’re also an active AdWords publisher. Google Analytics is said to intergrate very well with Google AdWords to better measure paid search ROI and you can track up to 50 profiles.

Online sign up is easy and only requires a Google account. Once signed up, just paste a snippet of JavaScript code into your web pages and that’s about it.

This must be making some analytics services a little nervous. At the same time, it’s great news for medium and small businesses and search marketers. When I spoke with an Urchin VP at a recent conference, there was nothing but marvel at the enhancements and capabilities Google was bringing to the table for Urchin. And now companies can use it for free.