Universal Analytics was Google's default Analytics tool until October 2020, when they introduced the new generation of Analytics. Universal Analytics is on its way out, and Google Analytics 4 is set to be the new default website monitoring tool.

Google Analytics 4 – or GA4 – is designed to meet various business goals, including increasing mobile app downloads, generating more leads, and driving sales. 

Learn more about the distinction between Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics below, as well as the switch to GA4 and the unique features it offers.

What is happening to Universal Analytics?

Google is retiring Universal Analytics to be replaced by Google Analytics 4. Google will begin the sunsetting process in 2023, but Universal Analytics will stop processing new data on 1st July 2023. Universal Analytics 360 can process new data until 1st October 2023.

You can access your Universal Analytics data for at least six months. However, you will still want to switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 as soon as is convenient for you! Google has a Help Centre to assist you in making the switch.

Why is Google making the switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4?

One of the primary reasons Google is making Google Analytics 4 the standard version of Google Analytics is because Universal Analytics is becoming obsolete as technology changes. 

For instance, Universal Analytics cannot deliver cross-platform insights — it relied on cookies and was built at a time when simple analytics observed from a desktop was enough.

This means a company with a website and an app would need two separate ‘properties’ under their Google Analytics account — one for its website and one for its app. 

Google Analytics 4, on the other hand, does not rely on cookies and can deliver cross-platform insights. Thus, businesses can get insights into their website and app with only one property. 

One of the final reasons Google Analytics 4 is a more appealing and modern version of Universal Analytics is its privacy benefits. Google Analytics will no longer store IP addresses, which many businesses find incredibly valuable in an age where users expect more data security and privacy when online.

A session-based model vs event-based model

The Universal Analytics method of using cookies to track user data is called a session-based data model. A website sends a 'cookie' to the user's computer visiting the site, giving the website permission and the ability to monitor and record a user's time. 

The method used with GA4 is called an event-based data model. While Google Analytics 4 still uses some cookies, it collects 'event' data, including:

• Pageviews

• Button clicks

• User actions 

An event-based data model provides a lot more context regarding what users are doing on your website by specifying the actions they take on it.

Advantages of Google Analytics 4

GA4 boasts many features not seen with Universal Analytics. Let us look at more advantages of Google Analytics 4:

Better platform integrations

Google Analytics 4 easily integrates with other Google apps, such as Google Ads. While Universal Analytics offered some integration options, it did not do so to the same extent that Google Analytics 4 is expected to.

What is the benefit of this? 

In short, GA4 will let you connect to far more external tools and platforms. That enables you to bring in more data, improving the quality of your marketing insights and subsequently helping you optimise your business's ad campaigns.

More useful data

Google Ads can help companies create new audiences by using machine learning to generate predictive insights about website conversions. It also automatically surfaces critical insights so you can improve your marketing efforts. 

There are three new metrics you will be able to see with Google Analytics 4:

• Engaged session: Engaged sessions last longer than 10 seconds, have a conversion event, or have at least two page or screen views. 

• Average engagement time per session: How much a user interacts with your website content.

• Engagement rate: Engagement is the ratio of engaged sessions vs total sessions. 

There is also an additional user metric with GA4 — rather than seeing only total users and new users, and you will be able to see total users, new users, and active users. These metrics and more will show up on GA4 reports. 

Data-driven attribution

Attribution uses a machine learning algorithm to analyse different paths users take with your ads, converting and non-converting. Data-driven attribution examines how different "touchpoints" affect conversion rates and outcomes. Data-driven attribution assigns credit to more than the user's last click by looking at additional factors, including:

• Time from conversion

• The type of device

• The number of ad interactions

It compares the path users took against other paths they could have taken to analyse better which digital touchpoints are most likely to drive conversions, Thus helping users to determine which marketing efforts encourage conversions. 

Export this new knowledge to Google Ads or Google Marketing Platform media tools. 

Future-proof and beginner-friendly

Because Google Analytics 4 does not rely on website cookies, it is a much better option in the future that will stay evergreen as technology advances. 

Additionally, GA4 is believed to be more beginner-friendly than Universal Analytics. Google Analytics 4 operates under the assumption that there are more essential metrics besides the number of page views. This might make it seem like GA4 is going to be super complicated. On the contrary, GA4 looks at all the essential metrics you might need without any extra settings.

Learn how to leverage your Google Analytics with Blu Mint

If you have questions about Google Analytics or are wondering how you can leverage it to start driving results for your company, we can discuss how we can help. Blu Mint is a digital marketing agency that has assisted clients using Google Analytics since it was first launched. 

If you are ready to kickstart your digital marketing goals using Google Analytics 4, contact us today!