Last week, Google shocked the digital marketing world with an announcement that they are going to be deprecating Universal Analytics (UA), which is the integration that most marketers and business owners have used for years.
It has now been almost 2 years since Google released GA4 (Google Analytics 4), and now website owners will have to permanently learn and adapt to the platform before July 1, 2023.
Google’s Reasoning Behind the Switch
“Universal Analytics was built for a generation of online measurement that was anchored in the desktop web, independent sessions and more easily observable data from cookies,” Russell Ketchum, director, product management at Google, said in the announcement. “This measurement methodology is quickly becoming obsolete.” (Source)
What You Need to Know
- After July 1, 2023, the data in Universal Analytics will only be available for 6 more months
- Web owners should take action now to set up GA4 accounts to start collecting data, including setting up conversions
- GA4 is quite different from UA, but thankfully Google is offering a free skill shop class to help prepare for the transition
Helpful Articles from Google to Get Started
- Add a Google Analytics 4 property (to a site that already has Analytics)
- [GA4] Set up Analytics for a CMS-hosted website
- [GA4] Set up Analytics for a website and/or app
Related Posts
We will be adding a variety of help and guidance articles for GA4 in the coming weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out on our blog. In the meantime, here are some other helpful articles:
