The introduction of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) comes with a rare but very real “official deadline” to upgrade from Universal Analytics. Failing to migrate to GA4 by 1 July may result in the loss of access to valuable analytics data, hindering performance monitoring and decision-making.
GA4 introduces an event-driven data model that captures and analyses user interactions as events, such as page views, button clicks, form submissions, and video plays. This shift allows for more detailed tracking and analysis of user behaviour, providing insights into engagement, conversion bottlenecks, and website/app optimisation.
GA4 also improves your ability to track user interactions across multiple platforms and devices seamlessly. This cross-platform tracking enables a comprehensive understanding of user journeys, identification of conversion touchpoints, and optimisation of marketing strategies.
Enhanced data controls and privacy compliance features are currently built into GA4. Google will continue to address privacy and data protection concerns through updates previously impossible with older versions. Organisations can now configure data collection settings, manage user consent preferences, and better uphold privacy standards.
There will be some less ideal results. GA4 is a work in progress, so many bugs are being resolved. Reporting is also not at par with prior versions, although custom reporting has improved with Looker and BigQuery integration. Finally, there will be discrepancies in counting users, sessions and other standard GA metrics because of how the new event-driven model works.
Despite these issues, upgrading to Google Analytics 4 unlocks interesting possibilities for data analysis, advanced insights, and optimised marketing strategies. For marketers or website owners, it’s in your best interest to ensure you track data correctly in GA. “Future you” will be upset with "Present you" for not setting up tracking correctly now.
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Other References:
What to expect from GA4 (Google.com)
Measure School on GA4 (Measureschool.com)
