Google Universal Analytics End of Life: Migration to GA4

Google Universal Analytics will stop processing hits on July 1, 2023. This means that any data collected after this date will not be reflected in Universal Analytics reports.

As of July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics will no longer be available for data collection, and users will need to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to continue tracking website and app data.

GA4 was introduced in October 2020 to provide a more modern and integrated analytics solution. It offers enhanced features and capabilities compared to Universal Analytics.

The key difference between Universal Analytics and GA4 is that GA4 uses event-based tracking, whereas Universal Analytics uses page-based tracking. This change requires a shift in how data is collected and analyzed.

Google Universal Analytics is reaching the end of its life, and it's essential to understand the importance of its replacement, Google Analytics 4. Google Analytics 4 offers some compelling benefits, and the learning curve is not particularly steep.

Measuring customer acquisition cost is one of the key advantages of Google Analytics 4, and it's a crucial metric for businesses to track. Benchmarking data is also available in GA4, which provides a more comprehensive view of your website's performance.

Google Analytics 4 introduces benchmarking data, which is a game-changer for businesses looking to improve their online presence. Steve Ganem, Product Director of Google Analytics, has outlined what's ahead for GA4, and it's exciting to see the new features and improvements that are on the horizon.

Google has announced upcoming GA4 features that will further enhance its capabilities, making it an even more powerful tool for businesses. How to create and configure custom dimensions in GA4 is a topic that's been covered in detail, and it's essential to understand this process to get the most out of your analytics.

Before diving into the migration process, it's essential to prepare your team and infrastructure. This includes deciding whether to do the migration internally or with the help of a partner.

You'll also need to get the base GA4 configuration tag on your site as soon as possible. This will allow you to start collecting data in GA4.

To structure your account effectively, consider how many properties to create and whether to use sub-properties or roll-up properties. Keep in mind that these features are only available in GA360.

Here's a basic checklist to help you prepare for the migration:

Remember to evaluate your current setup to identify what is unnecessary and what data is needed to make business decisions.

Planning your migration to Google Analytics 4 is crucial to a smooth transition. Google announced that Universal Analytics will officially retire on July 1, 2023, so you have until then to find an alternative.

To start, you should decide if this migration is something your team can do internally or if you need a partner to help strategize, implement, and QA the process.

You'll need to get the base GA4 configuration tag on your site as soon as possible. This will allow you to start collecting data and making progress on your migration.

Consider how you want to structure your account in GA4, as there are no Views like in Universal Analytics. Think about how many properties to create and if a sub-property or roll-up property would make the most sense for your team's needs.

Here's a basic checklist to help you plan your migration:

It's essential to start with the basics and then develop a strategy for a full implementation as soon as possible. This will help you avoid a significant amount of work down the line.

Organizing your account is a crucial step in preparing for a successful GA4 implementation. You need to have a proper plan in place to structure your GA4 account effectively.

Unlike Universal Analytics, views are not yet available in GA4, which means data segmentation is not possible. You need to assess your business requirements and determine the number of GA4 properties and data streams you need to set up.

To structure your account, consider how many properties to create and if a sub-property, roll-up property, or other structure would make the most sense based on how your team uses the data. You should also keep in mind that subproperties and roll-up properties are a new GA360 feature only.

Here's a basic checklist to help you plan your account structure:

By following this checklist, you'll be able to create a well-planned GA4 account structure that will help you understand your data better and make informed decisions to improve your website's performance.

Google Analytics 4 employs an event-based model that captures data based on interactions or events, which can occur multiple times and carry unique parameters.

This model provides a more precise measurement of user actions, offering detailed insights into specific behaviors within sessions.

In Universal Analytics, setting up custom events typically required inserting custom code into the tracking code, which often demanded developer resources and made the process less flexible.

GA4 simplifies the creation of custom events, with no need for extensive coding. Analysts can set up and modify events directly in the interface or through minimal adjustments in the tagging setup.

GA4 also includes built-in enhanced measurement events that automatically track interactions such as scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, and file downloads, which had to be manually set up in UA.

Server-side tagging in GA4 can improve data accuracy and make it easier to deal with ad-blockers or privacy settings in the user's browser.

This is because server-side tracking enables you to send data directly to GA4 from your server, giving you complete control over your user's data.

In the new Google Analytics 4, the focus is on understanding what users are doing on the website. This event-based focus gives you a clear picture of user activity.

The goal is simple: to give you the best idea of what your users are doing on the website.

The migration process to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can be a daunting task, but breaking it down into smaller steps can make it more manageable.

To start, you need to decide if your team can handle the migration internally or if you need to hire a partner to help. This decision will determine the level of expertise and resources required for the project.

Having a clear plan in place is crucial for a successful migration. This involves getting the base GA4 configuration tag on your site as soon as possible.

You'll also need to make a plan for how to structure your account in GA4, which is different from Universal Analytics. Consider creating sub-properties and roll-up properties to organize your data effectively.

Evaluating your current setup is also essential to identify what data is necessary for business decisions and what can be eliminated. This will help you create an implementation plan that documents your new event structure, custom dimensions, and metrics.

Here's a basic checklist to help you work through a GA4 migration:

Remember, starting with the basics and developing a strategy for full implementation as soon as possible is key to a successful migration.

GA4 offers several benefits over Universal Analytics for marketing teams, including more accurate and detailed reporting, as well as improved data collection and analysis capabilities.

One key benefit of GA4 is its ability to provide more accurate and detailed reporting, which is a significant improvement over Universal Analytics. GA4's improved data collection and analysis capabilities are also a major advantage, allowing for more informed marketing decisions and better campaign optimization.

GA4 offers several benefits over Universal Analytics. One major advantage is that GA4 provides more accurate and up-to-date data, thanks to its ability to handle high-traffic websites with ease.

With GA4, you can take advantage of enhanced data processing capabilities. This means you can get the insights you need to make informed marketing decisions without worrying about data overload.

One of the key benefits of GA4 is its improved data collection capabilities. Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 can collect data from a wider range of sources, including mobile apps and websites.

GA4 also offers better support for event-based tracking, which allows for more accurate measurement of user interactions. This is particularly useful for marketers who want to track specific events, such as button clicks or form submissions.

Overall, GA4 provides a more robust and flexible analytics platform than Universal Analytics.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) takes a significant leap forward in terms of user privacy with its improved privacy controls.

GA4 does not log IP addresses by default, which aligns more closely with GDPR requirements and enhances user privacy by not storing sensitive data that could identify individuals.

This is a notable improvement over Universal Analytics (UA), which logged IP addresses unless manually anonymized, complicating compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR.

GA4 provides enhanced controls over data retention, allowing organizations to set the duration for which data is stored before being automatically deleted.

This is a significant advantage over UA, which had more limited data retention options and did not support detailed data deletion capabilities, posing challenges in complying with user data deletion requests as per GDPR.

Losing historical data is a significant concern for many businesses. You won't lose your Google Analytics historical data, but you will need to take steps to ensure you can still access and analyze it.

Google Analytics is changing its tracking system, and Universal Analytics will stop collecting new data in July 2023. This means you'll have two Google Analytics properties in your account: one for historical data and one for new data.

Backing up your Universal Analytics data via the API is crucial for historical analysis and comparisons with GA4 data. You can use the Analytics Reporting API to retrieve your data and store it in a data warehouse.

With Google Analytics 4 (GA4), user tracking changes significantly.

You no longer use session tracking to monitor users, instead opting for event-based tracking.

This shift can be a bit of an adjustment, especially if you're used to tracking user sessions.

However, event-based tracking offers more detailed insights into user behavior.

It allows you to track specific events, such as button clicks or form submissions, which can be incredibly valuable.

This change is a major departure from the traditional session-based tracking used in Universal Analytics (UA).

Google launched the beta version of Google Analytics 4 on July 31, 2019, marking a new approach to analytics by blending app and web data.

This early version was initially introduced as "App + Web" and was a significant step towards a unified user analysis platform.

On October 14, 2020, Google officially launched Google Analytics 4 as the new default Analytics property, making it the go-to choice for businesses.

From this date forward, any new properties created were part of GA4, signaling a shift towards a future-focused analytics framework designed for the cross-platform digital landscape.

Google announced the sunset date for Universal Analytics on March 16, 2022, giving businesses a critical heads-up to start planning their migration strategies.

The operational shutdown of Universal Analytics occurred on July 1, 2023, meaning any user actions were no longer recorded in UA properties.

This made the switch to GA4 not just advisable but necessary for continuous data tracking.

On July 1, 2024, access to Universal Analytics properties and API, including all historical data, will be discontinued.

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4 is a straightforward process. You can upgrade at any time from your Analytics account, and the 2023 date is specific for sunsetting the Universal Analytics platform.

To start, check if a GA4 property has been automatically created for your account. You can do this by logging into your Google Analytics account and looking for any GA4 properties listed.

If you don't see a GA4 property, you can create a new one by going to Google Analytics, clicking on settings admin, finding the property column, selecting the UA property, and clicking GA4 setup assistant.

Here's a step-by-step guide to setting up Google Analytics 4:

First, you need to check if Google has automatically created a GA4 property for your account. This can be done by logging into your Google Analytics account and looking for any GA4 properties listed. If you see a GA4 property, Google has likely initiated the automatic migration process for your account.

To upgrade, simply go to google.com/analytics, access your account, and find the property column. You'll see an option for upgrading right there.

Before upgrading, it's essential to audit your current Universal Analytics setup thoroughly. This includes documenting all the details, such as settings, user parameters, custom dimensions, and metrics. This will provide you with a baseline understanding of how your current GA setup is configured and how it currently performs.

You should also review your analytics settings, including filters, goals, and views, to ensure everything is set up correctly.

To ensure a smooth upgrade, make sure you have a GA account, and then follow these steps:

Once you've upgraded, it's crucial to configure your GA4 settings in the admin section. This includes setting up your account, property, and data stream settings, including creating custom dimensions and metrics that are specific to your business.

Here's a list of key settings to review:

Syncing your Google Analytics 4 property to BigQuery is a game-changer for your data analysis needs.

You can store your analytics data for as long as you need without the risk of deletion, thanks to indefinite data retention.

BigQuery handles high-cardinality data without any limitations, ensuring detailed data points are preserved and reportable.

No latency in reporting means real-time data captured in GA4 will flow directly into BigQuery in real-time, so you can analyze it in your reports immediately.

Syncing to BigQuery also eliminates data sampling issues, allowing you to access un-sampled raw events.

Here are the key benefits of syncing your GA4 property to BigQuery at a glance:

Linking your Google Ads to GA4 is a game-changer for campaign performance tracking. This integration gives you a detailed view of how users interact with your ads, helping you understand which ads drive traffic to your site and which campaigns are most effective.

With this visibility, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize ad spend and improve campaign strategies. This means better outcomes for your business.

You can define and track conversion events more flexibly in GA4, and link them directly to specific ad clicks from Google Ads. This precise tracking capability leads to clearer ROI calculations.

You can also feed GA4 audiences into Google Ads for retargeting campaigns, leveraging rich, behaviour-based audiences for highly targeted re-marketing. This strategy enhances the relevance of your ads to users based on their past interactions with your site, potentially increasing conversion rates and maximising ad spend efficiency.

Here are some key benefits of linking Google Ads to GA4:

Upgrading and setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers a range of benefits that can help you improve your online performance. With GA4, you'll have access to better features than what's currently on offer with Universal Analytics (UA).

One of the key advantages of GA4 is its ability to track up to 300 events, giving you a more detailed understanding of user behavior on your site. This is particularly useful for businesses with complex online experiences.

The new platform also offers predictive analysis, thanks to the presence of well-developed AI and machine learning. This means you can make more informed decisions about your online strategy.

By using GA4's advanced segmentation tools, you can create audiences based on detailed user behavior on your site. These audiences can then be directly fed into Google Ads for highly targeted re-marketing campaigns.

Here are some key features of GA4 that can help you improve your online performance:

By leveraging these features, you can gain a deeper understanding of your online performance and make data-driven decisions to improve your strategy.