Google Deprecates Universal Analytics: Why and What Do You Need to Do About It?
Google updates have switched the script on business owners before, but this is an important switch, and everyone needs to pay attention.
Out with the old, in with the new: Google has officially stated that their renowned Universal Analytics (UA) technology will be deprecated effective July 1, 2023. This announcement means that the Universal Analytics properties will cease to accept new hits on July 1, 2023, and the Universal Analytics 360 assets will cease to accept new hits on October 1, 2023.
Google Universal Analytics: A Brief Overview of Its History
In the beginning, Google launched a limited beta release of Universal Analytics in October 2012, focusing on major enterprises and those who wanted to work with APIs. This announcement was the first time Google released a beta version of Universal Analytics. Soon after that, the platform was made available to the general public for testing in March 2013, and the rest is history.
A significant increase in cross-device usage and an increasingly complicated internet -and new methods of interacting with it- have contributed to the need for Universal Analytics (UA).
Technology and its role in people's daily lives are progressing rapidly. As more people ventured online beyond the confines of their desktop computers, Classic Analytics could not provide a comprehensive picture of the viewer's path to the website.
While the specifics of the modification have changed, the underlying cause for the move has remained much the same.
Why Google is Stopping Universal Analytics
Russel Ketchum, Google's Director of Product Management, explains that he created Universal Analytics for an era of online measurement grounded on the desktop web, independent sessions, and more observable data from cookies. This measurement system, on the other hand, is soon becoming obsolete.
As a result, Google will discontinue Universal Analytics in favor of Google Analytics 4.
An Overview on Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google Analytics 4 got deployed in October 2020. The launch of GA4 provides predictive insights, greater integration with Google Ads, and cross-device measurement capabilities, among other features.
The most significant difference is the new data model. Universal Analytics offered seven different hit types, whereas GA4's event-based data architecture only had one hit type called "event."
When an "event" gets delivered to the Universal Analytics properties, three parameters get passed along: the Event Category, the Event Action, and the Event Label parameters. In GA4, this is no longer the case; instead, up to 25 parameters can get transmitted with a single event, which you can modify.
In addition, it is crucial to remember that Custom Dimensions no longer get supported in GA4. The usage of event parameters, rather than tag types, will be required to feed equivalent data into Google Analytics, making the migration to GA4 slightly more complex than the change to a different tag type in Google Tag Manager.
For the most part, Google Analytics 4 varies from its predecessor in that it works across platforms, does not rely on cookies, and measures data using an event-based data model. It also does not record IP addresses, which can assist brands in complying with data privacy regulations in certain jurisdictions.
Measurement with GA4
Specifically, Google Analytics 4 should help businesses achieve their important objectives, such as producing sales or app installs, generating leads, and bridging the gap between online and offline client engagement.
Here are a few examples concerning how Google Analytics 4 can help your company succeed.
Engage your Customers at all Touchpoints: GA4 enables businesses to gain a holistic perspective of the customer lifecycle with an event-based measurement paradigm that is not platform- or session-specific.
Increase your Return on Investment with Data-driven Attribution: GA4 enables data-driven attribution analysis of a company's marketing efforts throughout the customer journey. Using a company's Analytics data, GA4 grants attribution credit to more than just the last click and enables you to understand how your marketing activities cumulatively affect your conversions.
Assess Engagement and Conversions in light of Business and Compliance Requirements: Companies may now regulate and minimize the gathering of user-level data -such as cookies and metadata- while retaining critical measuring functions, thanks to new country-level privacy settings that GA4 features.
Increase the Value of Data: Machine Learning offers complex predictive insights about user behavior and conversions, builds new audiences of users who are likely to purchase or bounce, and surfaces crucial data to help you better your marketing strategy.
Activate your Insights with Ease: Expanded integrations with other Google products, such as Google Ads, work throughout your combined web and app data, making it simple to optimize your campaigns using Analytics insights.
If you have not already, now is to configure your GA4 properties. Even though you have over a year, setting GA4 now will allow it to begin recording the metrics you care about, ensuring that historical data is available when needed.
Many search marketers have been sluggish in embracing GA4. However, they will have no option in just over 15 months; therefore, the more comfortable you become with GA4's interface and capabilities now, the better prepared you will be to manage the transition for your brands.
What Now?
Transfer to Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible to accumulate the required historical data before Universal Analytics stops accepting new hits.
Alternatively, you can opt for a privacy-first, regulation-compliant, and lightning-fast analytics solution like PoeticMetric.
PoeticMetric should create a safer and more secure internet for everyone. In line with this, it does not collect visitors' IP addresses or employ persistent tracking technology such as cookies. Additionally, it complies with data protection requirements such as GDPR, CCPA, and PECR.
Additionally, the PoeticMetric dashboard presents all critical data succinctly and densely, eliminating the need to scroll around; instead, you get all the information you need to make informed business decisions on a single screen.
Conclusion
In today's measurement landscape, organizations must navigate new challenges better to understand their customers' complicated, multi-platform journeys while prioritizing protecting their privacy.
To give your customers the privacy they deserve, get started with PoeticMetric today.