The landscape of digital analytics has witnessed a significant shift with the advent of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a revolutionary upgrade to the renowned Google Analytics (GA) tool. Being aware of the distinctions between GA4 and its forerunner, Universal Analytics, is key to fully utilizing the insights from your data.
Tracing the Progression of Google Analytics: From Urchin to GA4
The journey of Google Analytics has been extensive, beginning with Urchin, a firm acquired by Google, which set the foundation for the original analytics structure, urchin.js. This led to the introduction of Google Analytics, powered by ga.js. Eventually, it evolved into Universal Analytics, supported by analytics.js and later by GTAG.js. Today, we have the latest iteration, Google Analytics 4, continuing to use GTAG.js.
The Novel Features of GA4
GA4 ushers in an array of changes and enhancements. The shift towards a completely event-centric model, which is Firebase-inspired, provides myriad benefits for enterprises aiming to monitor user activity.
Automated Tracking
GA4 has introduced automatic tracking, also known as enhanced measurement. This feature automatically records a variety of user behaviors such as page scrolls, site searches, outbound clicks, video interactions, and file downloads, eliminating the need for manual tracking and simplifying the process for users.
Cross-Device User Identification
Another groundbreaking feature of GA4 is cross-device tracking, which utilizes Google signals to recognize whether a single user is accessing your website from multiple devices. This ensures a more accurate depiction of user behavior across different platforms.
Advanced Analytics
GA4 has revolutionized how sessions are handled, implementing new computations that maintain session continuity beyond midnight, preventing duplicate sessions. It also brings about improvements in funnel and path analysis, rendering them more user-friendly and precisely mirroring user behavior on your site.
Adjustable Conversion Goals and Data Export
GA4 allows businesses to define more adaptable conversion goals, thereby providing a more precise picture of user activities on your website or app. In addition, for advanced users, GA4 allows comprehensive data export to the cloud via BigQuery, a service previously exclusive to enterprise users.
GA4's Missing Features
While GA4 brings many advancements, some features from Universal Analytics are not yet incorporated. These include attribution, multi-channel funnels, stream-level user permissions, and filters. E-commerce features and funnels, referral exclusion lists, and some integrations with the full Google Marketing Platform suite are also underway. However, these features are being actively worked on and added to GA4.
Choosing Between GA4 and Universal Analytics
For those initiating their journey with Google Analytics or setting up a new website, GA4 is likely the optimal choice, considering Google’s plan to sunset Universal Analytics by July 2023. For existing users of Google Analytics, if your workflow is heavily dependent on features not currently present in GA4, it would be prudent to operate both versions simultaneously.
Keep in mind that transitioning to GA4 doesn’t allow the transfer of previous data. So, when you switch to GA4, you’re essentially starting anew. But to gather a meaningful data set for analysis, it’s advisable to begin as early as possible. Moreover, running both GA4 and Universal Analytics at the same time won’t incur double charges from Google.
In conclusion, Google Analytics 4 marks a substantial step forward in digital analytics. Even though some features are still in development, the advantages that GA4 offers are appealing. When uncertainty arises, the general recommendation leans towards adopting Google Analytics 4 as the tool for the future. As more features roll out, it will continue to evolve into a more potent and all-encompassing tool for digital analytics.