You may have heard about Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It’s an updated version of Google Analytics that completely changes how you will measure your website traffic and is now the default option for all new Google Analytics users. What you may not have realized is that upgrading to G4 doesn’t mean your existing data will be transferred over!
When will you be impacted?
For existing accounts, on July 1, 2023, Google’s current Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new information. After July 1, 2023, you will also only be able to access your historical Universal Analytics property data for six months, so it’s important to discuss with your team how you will transition your website tags and perhaps re-assess your analytics and reporting needs. Google is encouraging current accounts to set up a new GA4 account now and begin to track information in parallel so that over the next year you can see both your current (Universal) and new GA4 account and adapt to the changes.
If your organization is also linking your Universal Analytics property and Google Ads accounts, Universal Analytics data will also stop flowing to Google Ads after July 1, 2023. This could affect your Google Ads campaigns if you are using a Universal Analytics audience in your campaigns. If you use Google Tag Manager (GTM) you will need to also add new tags to your existing event triggers….so in short it’s not as simple as just clicking the “upgrade” button you are likely seeing.
Examples of what you will need to consider.
As we’ve begun to experiment, we’ve noticed that GA4 uses an event-driven data model. This means the older setup we used to track page views, hits, and sessions has changed and been replaced with a system of events, parameters, and user properties. e.g. A page view is now an event. We also noted that in GA4, the data expires after 14 months (if you configure it manually as the default was set to 2 months). Those are just two examples of why it will be important to take the time to become familiar with the new reporting and analysis techniques.
Where can I learn more?
Google has provided this helpful overview page for Making the Switch: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10759417
Best wishes for a smooth transition!