tdown to GA4: You have 100 days to make your switch

Businesses are (or should be) preparing for the transition from Google Analytics Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as the sun sets on Google Analytics Universal Analytics (UA).

There are only 100 days until UA officially retires. Organizations of all sizes need to be able to comprehend the benefits and challenges associated with migrating to GA4, along with the steps necessary to make the transition smooth.

Steve Ganem, Director Product, Google Analytics, answers our questions to provide valuable insights into the key features and challenges of using GA4.

What are the most common misconceptions regarding GA4?

It’s a brand new product, but is too young to be used.

Although the migration was announced a little more than a year ago by GA4, advertisers have been using GA4 since 2020. The idea of app and web analytics is a new concept since 2019.

GA4 provides valuable insight to assist businesses in making informed strategic decisions about their operations.


“It is too complex and doesn’t provide the same reporting capabilities as Universal Analytics”

GA4 is not without its challenges, but it is essential to shift from a session-based approach. GA4 was created to address the digital landscape’s complexity. It includes features such as a novel event structure, and redesigned user experiences.

These concepts may not be obvious or simple to grasp at first, but businesses who overcome this learning curve will find that GA4 was designed to help them navigate the evolving digital world and anticipate future developments.


“It is not intended for small businesses.”

GA4 was created to be accessible to all businesses, regardless of their size. It was created to provide a platform with extensive reporting capabilities and flexible customization options.

The personalized homepage displays the most relevant reports to customers and predictive audiences helps identify users who are more likely to make a purchase. GA4 efficiently takes over the analysis and delivers crucial insights directly to businesses.

Jumpstart: Should I Wait?

The short answer is no.

Manual migration is still the preferred method for businesses that require a more thorough response. This allows you to create a custom property and ensures everything is in the right configuration.

This is especially important for advertisers as their conversion bidding may be tied to Universal Analytics. It is crucial to ensure a proper transfer of GA4.

Jumpstart is a useful tool for small businesses, but it only provides a basic property. Manual migration is the best option. Jumpstart is gradually being introduced, so the earlier businesses migrate, the more historical data they will be able to use for comparisons year-over-year.

What are the obstacles to migration and how does Google address them?

GA4 was designed for a new era in measurement. This means GA4 has new product features and a completely different approach to measurement than Universal Analytics. Although this does not make it any more difficult, Google acknowledges that change can be hard. The property’s unique appearance and functionality may cause problems during migration.

The Setup Assistant. The Setup Assistant includes tools that are specifically designed to address specific problems in the migration process. These aspects were identified by Google during preliminary user testing as areas that could pose a problem for businesses when setting up a GA4 Property.

Search Engine Land published a guide last year that provides a detailed look at the Setup Guide. You can find it.

This tutorial is also helpful to many businesses who are making the transition.

What are the most important features of GA4 that businesses need to know?

Ganem stated that GA4’s new features allow for greater durability in an evolving privacy landscape. They also bring to life a new method of measuring that evolves with the web and mobile experiences.

These are just a few of the many that are worth noting:

  1. Built with Google AI at its core.Google’s advanced AI helps businesses predict future consumers behavior. This allows marketers to gain insights about future consumer behaviour and then activate those insights. Marketers can also tap into conversion modeling, behavioral modeling, and data-driven attribution to gain a comprehensive and accurate view of campaign performance even when cookies are gone.
  2. Privacy by defaultGA4 was created for the future and now, when privacy is important. The way we measure privacy has changed with changing expectations. It’s built with data driven attribution, modeling and consent mode embedded. Businesses can use it to measure in a privacy-centric manner while still gaining the insights they require.
  3. Web +: GA4 was designed to work with both web and mobile apps. This is something that Google Analytics used separately. Measurement should reflect the seamless transition between apps and web.
  4. Customizable reports: GA4 allows for many levels of reporting. This gives businesses a quick overview of a topic and also gives them the ability to drill down into more data. You can quickly access a summary of the most important reports with Customized Overview Reports. Universal Analytics had a huge reporting collection, which many businesses found overwhelming. This was mainly due to the fact that it tried to be all things for everyone. GA4 prioritized a smaller, more curated set of reports as well as a robust custom-reporting tool that allows businesses to create reports specific for their business.
  5. Advertiser workspace There are currently four reports that provide an overview of the advertising industry. These reports allow you to see the performance metrics, attribution models, and conversion paths and help you understand the impact of your campaigns on the business.
  6. Robust API GA4 supports many APIs which allows for a more personalized measurement foundation. GA4 is designed to keep the API current with product features so that developers can always benefit from the most recent GA4 features. This is a significant difference to Universal Analytics’ API which often had limited functionality.

Advertisers will lose out if advertisers don’t act

Bottom line: For advertisers, ROI is important.

Universal Analytics property will cease processing data starting July 1, 2023. Conversions and audiences will stop receiving new data from this property into Google Ads. This could have a significant impact on their ability to run ad campaigns. Advertisers must make the switch from GA3 to GA4, as this will allow them to be in a more stable and long-lasting position.

What happens to Universal Analytics properties following July 1st?

Universal Analytics properties will cease reporting new data on July 1st.

They will cease processing data. This means that your standard UA property won’t function the same way it did today. Businesses shouldn’t be shocked if they can still log in to their accounts after July 1, as it takes time for the product to fully sunset.

To aid in period-over-period comparability, historical data will be available for six month. Businesses can export their historical data after sunset.

Why is it so important that you make the move right away?

It is now.

You can make the move by:

  1. GA4 is easy to use. GA4 is a brand new platform with new capabilities and tools. It will take some time for them to get used to it. The earlier they get their properties set up, the quicker they’ll be able to adapt to the new platform.
  2. Create historical data. To have a successful analytics property of any type, it is essential to build historical, comparable data.
  3. Both. Businesses will be able to view the differences between UA properties and GA4 properties. This is crucial for businesses that have invested a lot of effort and time into their UA properties.

Dig deeper. Still confused? More resources are available:

Why do we care? UA is ending. ChatGPT says GA4 might be better for advertisers.

  1. GA4 provides better insights and data analysis, which allows advertisers to make better decisions and optimize campaigns.
  2. Unified measurement: GA4 integrates data from mobile apps and websites. This allows advertisers to track user behavior across different platforms and devices and gives them a better understanding of their audience.
  3. Enhanced audience targeting: GA4’s advanced audience segmentation tools allow advertisers to create more targeted and personalized campaigns. This results in a higher ROI and improved performance.
  4. Machine learning integration: GA4 uses machine learning algorithms to provide automatic insights, recommendations and predictions. This allows advertisers to spot trends and opportunities faster.
  5. Future-proofing: GA4 can adapt to future user behavior, technology and privacy regulations. This allows advertisers to stay ahead of the curve while maintaining a competitive edge.
  6. Privacy compliance: GA4 was built with a strong emphasis on user privacy and compliance to data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA. This is crucial for responsible advertising practices.
  7. Integration with Google Ads is better: GA4’s tighter integration to Google Ads makes it easier for data import/export between the platforms. This allows for improved analysis and optimization of campaigns.

The post Countdown To GA4: 100 Days to Make the Switch appeared first at Search Engine Land.

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