Like the month of March, software vendor offerings will go in like a lion and out like a lamb. Such was the case with Microsoft's longtime project (originally codenamed "Gatineau") to deliver hosted web analytics

Case in point:  Microsoft's "adAnalytics" beta service originally launched with great expectations of duking it out with Google Analytics -- only to be quietly shelved earier this month. (Current customers will receive support through the end of this year.) While Redmond didn't give an official reason, I couldn't ever find a really big following for the solution. Indeed the lack of response to a feedback request on the adAnalytics blog back in July makes you wonder whether adAnalytics ever garnered much of a clientele.

Given Microsoft's weight and ambition to challenge Google, as well as Yahoo's evident potential in this space, I'm surprised that adAnalytics remained such a non-factor in the analytics space. If you have theories, feel free to comment below (just remember: no anonymous posts, please).

Perhaps adAnalytics will be best remembered for its ability to provide a limited amount of demographic data on about 25% of users based on MS Passport Live IDs -- an intriguing concept, but not complete enough to draw any meaningful conclusions about your site traffic.

While it may be entertaining to speculate on whether Micosoft will pursue the analytics game going forward, I'm not sure there's enough business value for Redmond here. Sure, companies such as Omniture, Coremetrics and WebTrends are all possible acquisition candidates, but if it's data that they want, Redmond can get that through the rest of their web and PC-based applications and services.

Anyway, just goes to show you: big vendors kill products and services just as freely -- if not more frequently -- than small. Plan contingencies accordingly.