September 26, 2022
4 Minutes

As we move from the Age of Precision to the Age of Projection, marketers must adapt quickly to keep up with the rapidly changing technology landscape. Here’s what you need to know about Google’s switch from UA to GA4 and what it means for marketers.

For those of us who aren’t especially tech-savvy (just me?), let’s start with the basics.

A brief overview of web analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, and reporting of website data to understand and improve the website user experience. Essentially, it is the process marketers use to examine the behavior of visitors to a website.

Web analytics is used to gain a deeper understanding of website visitors and improve their user experience, adjust/refine marketing campaigns, examine website conversions, boost sales, and a whole lot more. There’s also a difference between on-site and off-site web analytics (check out this article for more on that).

The importance of web analytics is clear to many, and is regarded as an essential tool for marketers and decision-makers. For a deeper dive into the process and importance of web analytics, as well as examples of KPI metrics to track with web analytics, take a look at this article.

Okay, we’re almost ready to talk about Google’s switch from UA to GA4, but first we need to talk cookies (not the chocolate-chip-Cookie-Monster-eating kind, unfortunately).

What’s the deal with cookies?

I invite my non-technologically challenged readers to skip this section, because we’re truly covering the basics here.

Cookies are small pieces of data that are created when a person browses a website. Cookies are placed on the user’s device, like their computer, by the web browser, and they can save a variety of information.

So they seem pretty harmless… right? Cookies are certainly not all bad, and some help create a more enjoyable, personalized user experience. Most people have a problem with third-party cookies, which track users across multiple domains and can gather enough data to paint a creepily detailed picture of who you are. That’s why governments are cracking down on third-party cookies to protect personal privacy. See this article for more about cookies and GA4, but beware that it is slightly outdated.

With that, let’s get to the good stuff!

Google’s switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4

Earlier this year Google announced that it will retire its current system, Universal Analytics (UA), on July 1, 2023, in exchange for Google Analytics 4 (GA4). The reason for the switch is simple: new privacy laws like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act are restricting the use of third-party cookies. GA4 will be compliant with these laws because it relies on first-party cookies.

Eliminating reliance on third-party cookies and creating flexible systems that can easily adapt to the changing technology landscape will allow Google Analytics to stay ahead of the curve. As we rapidly head towards a cookieless future, where browsers block third-party cookies, marketers will need to re-evaluate their reliance on highly-detailed data. Luckily, GA4 is designed to work with or without cookies, using machine learning and statistical modeling to fill in data gaps.

Major differences between UA and GA4

• GA4 has machine learning features to fill in data gaps – Google calls this “blended data”
• UA’s session-based model tracks website hits and page views, while GA4’s event-based platform will allow user behavior with a wide range of parameters.
• GA4 provides a more complete look at the customer journey – learn more about the new features from this article.
• UA limited event tracking to three parameters – GA4 allows marketers to closely examine the descriptive actions within a session.
• GA4 has other new features, like Consent Mode and Enhanced Conversions

Adopt GA4 now or risk losing valuable analytics

When UA is retired in July it will stop tracking data, and existing data will only be available for ~6 months if it is not exported. The bigger concern is that data from UA cannot be imported into GA4, which is why it is paramount for marketers to begin tracking in GA4 as soon as possible.

This article, which I highly recommend reading, suggests that businesses should set up GA4 as soon as possible and run it parallel with UA (until UA is turned off). It also suggests implementing Consent Mode and Enhanced Conversions.

Above all else, you should take steps to prepare yourself for the Age of Projection, a cookieless future where marketers must rely on first-party data and machine learning.