inluminent

Here’s one more example of how Google just doesn’t like Mac users.

Google Analytics doesn’t work with Safari on Mac OS X. In ordre to view a Google Analytics report on Mac OS X, you have to be using a Mozilla based braower, ie. Firefox.

Here’s an example of two screenshots:

GA in Safari on Mac OS X:

GA in Firefox on Mac OS X:

So, if you’re a Mac user, logging into Google Analytics using Safari, and you’re wondering why there is not data, it’s because GA won’t work with Safari.

Here’s a link to the official Google Analytics help system that details this bug.

I’m using Safari on Mac OS X and am unable to view any reports.
The most recent versions of Safari (v. 1.3.1 for Mac OS X Panther and v. 2.0.1 for Mac OS X Tiger) do not support the Google Analytics reporting interface. Only Mozilla-based browsers (Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape Navigator) are supported for Macs at this time. We recommend using one of these supported browsers to view your Google Analytics account.

Yes, I’m believing Google is lame a lot lately (I think the lustre is wearing off … their search engine rocks… the rest, well, keeps sucking more and more), and this is just one more example of the Mac user hate they exhibit sometimes…

I never use Firefox, just like I never use Windows Media Player. If a WMV file shows its head in a webpage I’ve viewing with Safari and works on my machine, I’m pleasantly surprised, but I don’t download WMV files to watch in Windows Media Player. I use Safari for 99.9% of my internet browsing needs on my Mac, and only load up Firefox to view analytics reports from Google at this point (taking the screenshots above for example was the first time I’ve fired up Firefox on my Mac in probably a year to view a website on the web … ugh…)

But hey, it’s a free service… who am I to complain?

update: In the comments on TUAW a reader gives this advice for how to get GA to work with Safari:

1. Try to force a reflow of the page, e.g. by hitting “Cmd +” or “Cmd -” to resize the text. The charts will appear.

Charts also appear if you invoke them via the contextual red (^) buttons next to list elements.