Google Analytics 4 as a golden opportunity
Having a date set publicly by Google for the end of life of Universal Analytics should see a burst of activity, writes Julien LeNestour, customer experience & analytics director at Havas Media Australia.
As most of us know, Google recently announced that the current version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) will stop collecting data in little more than 15 months on July 1st 2023. With Google Analytics 4 (GA4) released more than 3 years ago and becoming more robust with each passing month, we’re now all officially on notice from Google that GA4 is the new standard we can no longer delay adopting.
July 1st 2023 for the end of life of UA is sooner than many of us anticipated. With no possibility to transfer data between UA and GA4, July 1st this year becomes the next deadline to enable year-on-year comparisons within GA4 next year. If that deadline is not reachable, there is still a full year ahead to get ready, and you will be able to use the data in Universal Analytics. My recommendation, though, is to finalise any plans for GA4 without delay.
Across industries, adoption of GA4 has been slower than anticipated by Google. Partly because it’s a very different product to deploy and to use day-to-day. Partly because the recommended “dual-tagging” approach, where GA4 is deployed alongside UA, might have failed to create enough urgency.
