Web data analysis, also known as web metrics, has become a core part of marketing strategy for businesses of every size. Google Analytics is one of the most popular tools for tracking and analyzing traffic data on a website. In 2020, Google launched version 4 of Google Analytics (GA4), replacing Universal Analytics, the older system used until then.
This update brings new features, but it also comes with its own set of difficulties. If you’re still on the fence about switching to GA4, Gabriel Thiery, our data specialist, has put together a practical guide to help you make sense of it all: what’s new, the upsides, the downsides, and the alternatives. Here’s Gabriel’s take on the topic.
1. Why is Google dropping Universal Analytics?
Let’s start at the beginning. Our browsing habits have changed. A single user now owns several devices, giving them different ways to reach your website or mobile app. GA4 now lets us bring all these devices together and get a more accurate picture of user numbers than what Universal Analytics gave us. It’s also possible to combine traffic from the web and from mobile apps, giving some businesses a clearer view of the whole user journey.
At the same time, internet users are paying closer attention to how their data is used. Privacy on the web is more talked about than ever, and new laws meant to protect it are gradually being rolled out around the world. We can see this in the slow disappearance of third-party cookies. Whether it’s the GDPR in Europe, the CCPA in California, or PIPEDA in Canada, governments want to make browsing safer when it comes to personal data.
Google Analytics 4 is built to align with these new rules in several ways. For example, the platform now anonymizes users’ IP addresses, a real improvement over GA3. Another change worth noting is how long personal data is kept, which has dropped from 64 months to 14 months in GA4. On top of the shorter retention period, Google also lets us delete this data whenever we want, for any reason. In short, Google is doing what it can to keep its platform legal in Europe and elsewhere, though as we’ll see further down, that may prove harder than expected for the web giant.
Internet users are also more aware of the trail they leave online and are taking more steps to protect their data. We’re seeing growing use of ad blockers and browsers like Brave, which stop tracking systems like Google Analytics from working properly. These changes are a good thing for society, but they create real headaches for marketers who want data that actually reflects reality.
Lastly, Google has invested heavily in machine learning and wants to make more use of it in GA4. New features have been added to the platform that let you predict user behavior, get personalized insights, and automatically spot unusual patterns in your data. All of this uses machine learning to save you time and effort. This technology is expected to keep improving, which is a good sign for what’s ahead.
All of these reasons pushed the web giant to build a brand-new interface, one better suited to changing consumer habits and offering a stronger tool for its users.
2. What are the advantages of Google Analytics 4 over its predecessor?
An event-based model
There are real advantages to using GA4 to track your performance. First, GA4 relies on an event-based data model to measure activity on a website, unlike Universal Analytics, which used a session-based model. Instead of focusing on the traffic you get, GA4 puts the focus on how your audience interacts with your site. Metrics like sessions and bounce rate are no longer the main focus. What matters more now is the number of users and how engaged they are on the site.
To measure that engagement, GA4 gives us much more flexibility. Events no longer have to follow the “category-action-label” structure that Universal Analytics required. They now come with a set of parameters you can customize as needed. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a very intuitive way of working, and in the end, simpler than GA3.
Events collected automatically by GA4
Another piece of good news: GA4 now measures certain events automatically, where the previous version required advanced setup in Google Tag Manager. These include:
- 90% page scrolls
- clicks on outbound links
- form submissions
- file downloads
- video views
That said, you still need to stay alert, because these events aren’t always identified correctly by GA4. Automatic form-submission tracking is the best example of this. Depending on how your website is built, GA4 does a better or worse job of knowing when a form has actually been submitted. Hopefully this will keep improving over time, until the day e-commerce tracking is handled automatically too. For now, we’re still a long way from that.
Predictive analysis
Another feature that can be genuinely useful for sites with heavy traffic is predictive analysis. It lets you anticipate future trends and behavior among your visitors, to the point where you can, for example, predict how many users are likely to make a purchase in the next seven days, or which ones probably won’t visit your site again soon. You can then add or exclude these users from your campaign targeting. Two things are needed to use these audiences: enough data for the model to work well, and… an online store.
Building a predictive audience
Native integration with BigQuery
One last advantage, and a big one: GA4 connects more closely with other Google products, such as Google Ads, Google Optimize, and Google BigQuery. The BigQuery integration, which wasn’t available in the free version of GA3, is a real advantage since it lets you store and own your web data, and also gives you access to more granular, detailed data, like raw event data.
By combining GA4 data with other data sources, such as CRM data, you can now get a fuller picture of performance and dig much deeper into your analysis. If you haven’t already, start by picking up some basics in SQL, and you’ll be able to do all kinds of work in BigQuery from there. Once you get comfortable with it, a whole world of possibilities opens up.
3. On the other hand, what are the downsides and difficulties with this new version?
Now that we’ve covered the good, you should know the platform isn’t quite perfect, and there are a few downsides that might make you think twice about using it.
The learning curve
First, this isn’t a simple update, it’s the rollout of an entirely new system. Adapting your tracking to the new data model and setting up the tool correctly takes time and resources. There’s also a learning curve that can be steep for some people and demand a lot of effort, especially since the interface is completely different and can throw off even experienced users.
Some of the detailed reports you were used to in GA3 are no longer available by default, and you sometimes need to dig into the exploration tab or customize your interface to find the answers you’re looking for.
Limited connection with Looker Studio
Another downside for heavy Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) users: GA4’s native connector has been subject to query quotas since November 2022. It’s no longer possible to make full use of the visualization tool without breaking the dashboard after a few actions. This makes the connector partly outdated and pushes us toward other solutions for visualizing our data, solutions that usually aren’t free.
For many experts, Looker Studio is still a better option for visualization, since GA4’s own interface is, for now, neither very intuitive nor very appealing (not to mention the occasional recurring bugs). This news has thrown off quite a few people, and it could mark the end of fully free access to the most popular tracking tool on the market.
The dashboard breaks after a few actions, due to the recent quotas Google has put in place
On shaky legal ground
Finally, one question still hangs in the air: is Google Analytics 4 actually compliant with the GDPR and similar laws around the world? Despite the major changes described earlier in this article, several European countries maintain that GA4 still isn’t legal. Google has already been fined millions of dollars for privacy violations by countries such as France, Sweden, and South Korea. This leaves the door open for other tracking tools that already use GDPR compliance as a selling point.
4. What are some possible alternatives for tracking your web data?
Given everything covered above, you might be wondering whether Google Analytics is still THE solution for tracking your web data. There are, in fact, several other options that might suit your needs better.
Among the free tools on the market, one worth mentioning is Microsoft Clarity. Beyond giving you basic traffic information, this platform also lets you watch session recordings and get heatmaps of your web pages. Even if you use Google Analytics, it’s worth adding Clarity too, since these features don’t exist in GA4.
Microsoft Clarity click map
Another free option is Piwik. What sets it apart is that it’s open-source, and fully customizable as a result. It lets you store data on your own servers, giving you more control over data protection than Google Analytics offers. There’s also a PRO version of Piwik that lets you, among other things, import your customer data and combine it with your web data.
A final word?
After years on a platform that changed very little, it naturally takes time to get used to something new. Whatever you think of GA4, it shakes up our habits and gives us a chance to learn more. The tool, while still not perfect, keeps evolving and will likely bring some pleasant surprises along the way.
Our suggestion is to move over to this new platform as soon as possible, so you can start collecting data now. Using additional tools like Clarity or Piwik will let you compare data across platforms and build an even more accurate picture of your traffic. Since they’re free, there’s no real reason to skip them.
Reach out to our team, we can help point you toward the tools that best fit your needs, or support you through migrating your website to Google Analytics 4. Feel free to contact us to explore your options together!s!
