Following an announcement today (16th March 2022), on 1st July 2023, Google’s Universal Analytics will stop processing new hits.
To translate that for you, it means that the version of Google Analytics you are almost certainly using will stop working.
This is Google’s final step in what has been a fairly long rollout of its new analytics product, called Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
What should I do?
Before getting into any detail, the recommendation right now is simple. You should set up a GA4 property if you don’t have one already.
At this stage, you can have the new version of Analytics running alongside the existing version, so there’s really no downside to doing so.
There are various upsides to this approach:
- GA4 will begin collecting report data so that you have something to look back on when Universal Analytics heads off into the sunset
- GA4 uses machine learning, meaning the more data it has, the more it can learn
- You can start learning how to use GA4 now before it becomes the only platform you have access to
How is GA4 different to Universal Analytics?
Fundamentally, GA4 uses an entirely different model for collecting and processing data. Universal Analytics has always relied on cookie-based tracking. GA4, on the other hand, uses what it calls an ‘events-based’ model for processing data.
In summary, where once Universal Analytics focussed on reporting on user ‘sessions’ over a time period, GA4 will focus on user events.
The thinking behind this is that it future-proofs the platform, particularly being less reliant on cookie-based tracking. Equally, the platform is built with cross-platform tracking in mind. Universal Analytics excelled at tracking user sessions on a single platform (ie. a website) but fell apart when users jumped between websites, apps and different devices.
GA4 is designed to be able to track user journeys between the different platforms they use.
Next steps
At this stage, marketers should set up a GA4 property and get to grips with it. This gives you just over a year to prepare for the date when the existing Google Analytics system becomes obsolete.
We will be working with our clients throughout this transition and will be reaching out to roll out GA4 compatibility shortly.
If you require any support, please contact [email protected].
