Small online store owners tell us what they like and don't like about Yahoo's new analytics service.

In October, Yahoo unveiled Yahoo Web Analytics (YWA), an alternative to Google's popular Analytics service. The service allows Web sites to track metrics on consumer behavior.

According to Dennis Mortensen, director of data insights at Yahoo, a key benefit of the service is real-time reports. "If someone visits at 2:16, at 2:17 you can see what he or she did on your Web site," he said.

Mortensen said conversion rates are an important benefit for store owners using the service. "If you convert 2 percent, what happened to those 98 percent that didn't convert?" he asked. "And that's information they haven't had access to before unless they set up something themselves."