Does Google Analytics Track Users By IP Addresses?

We hear a lot of questions regarding whether or not the Google Analytics program can track users by IP address.

The short answer is no.

Google forbids the tracking of users by Personal Identifiable Information (ie. IP address), and in order to use the Google Analytics system you must agree to it's TOS, which states this condition. The data that you receive within through Analytics is aggregated data. Google does however provide geographical data to give you a more clear understanding of your users and their locations, but it lacks the specificity that the IP address would grant.