Time Is Running Out For Google Analytics!

Last week Google finally gave notice that support for the current Universal Analytics (UA) version of Google Analytics will be retired on 1st July 2023.

This will be replaced by the new GA4 giving all users a year to get used to the new system which is completely different from the current version.

For anyone who has played with GA4, outwardly it appears to offer a similar, but less comprehensive set of data that we’re used to.

However, it uses a completely new way of recording and processing data which means that there is no migration between the current Universal Analytics and the new platform. This means that historical data collected in UA will not be transferable to GA4. There will be no way to compare data between GA4 and UA within the GA4 environment.

The key drivers for the new GA4 platform are to try and provide a more accurate picture of web data using AI to ‘fill in the blanks’ which are an issue of widespread ad blocker use and the phasing out of third party cookies which impacts the amount of data collected by UA.

Crowd are working on an upgrade path for our clients to ensure continuity of data collection over the transition period and suggest running both properties simultaneously for a time to compare differences in data. This may help us to provide that link between old and new and produce dashboards that provide an accurate continuity over time.

We’ll be in touch with our clients soon about upgrade strategies, but if you’d like to discuss how this may affect your data, please do get in touch.