Goodbye Google Universal Analytics
Mark your calendars: On July 1, Google’s Universal Analytics platform will be switching over to its new platform Google Analytics 4 (GA4) . This means the Universal Analytics’ site and data will cease to exist. However, many are still wondering why Google is doing this and the different takeaways GA4 has to offer.
GA4 and Privacy
In short, Google is updating its terms and privacy clause. They will be giving more privacy back to consumers, making it harder for Google Analytics developers to track specific types of data. To help consumers with spam prevention, GA4 strives for advertisers to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data regulations. For instance, the new consent mode helps website owners obtain consent for both analytics and ads. Additionally, GA4 makes it easier to handle user data removal. With the new features and GA4 events, developers can get a more comprehensive view of how their consumers engage with their site across different devices and channels.
New Ways to Track Consumer Data
GA4 utilizes a user-based model and collects data in the form of events. Each event has a unique name that identifies it. These events may include page views, transactions, social interactions, and more. Developers should be able to get incredibly detailed metrics without infringing on privacy. With Universal Analytics, page views were the most critical metric. Now with GA4, essential metric measurements are events. Instead of seeing generalized data, a GA4 user can now better understand how their consumers interact with their application and website. GA4 also has an array of new metrics in events. These include engagement metrics such as engaged sessions, engagement rate and engagement time.
What’s Left Out From Your GA4 Migration
There are other tools to keep in mind that GA4 doesn’t guide you to when handling events. For instance Data Retention. Data Retention controls event and user data collected by GA4. The data retention period is set to the default of two months, meaning the data collections for your website will only show two months’ worth. As well in GA4, you don’t have to wait 24 hours for data when setting up conversion events. To learn more about how to alter these default settings click here.
This post is courtesy of MMC Marketing Intern Andrea Miles.