Google Analytics 4 – New and Improved GA

If you have been reading this blog for any period of time you know that we are big fans of Google Analytics(GA). It is very easy to install and provides a tremendous amount of data on your advertising and website performance. And, of course, it’s free. Because more business is moving online and with changes in privacy and data laws Google has released the new and improved Google Analytics 4.

Why Change

According to Google changes were needed in Google Analytics because of major shifts in consumer behavior and privacy-driven changes to longtime industry standards. The goal of the update was to get a complete view of the customer and provide more insights from the data collected. By increasing the amount of machine learning (AI) Google feels they will give a better understanding of customer behavior across devices and platforms. At the same time they can follow all of the new data privacy laws.

Universal Analytics Is Still Here

For those of you who are happy using Universal Analytics the good news is nothing will be changing for the time-being. Just as Google did with the migration from Google Adwords to Google Ads the new platform is being introduced as an option. You can continue on as per usual. If Universal Analytics is attached to your website, keep it. However, Google is putting no more resources into Universal Analytics improvement. The day will come where you have no choice but to switch.

Install Google Analytics 4

The only thing you need to do right now is make sure that Analytics 4 is installed on your site. As with Universal, until it is installed it cannot collect data. And data is only collected from the time of installation going forward. You can’t collect yesterday’s data if the platform isn’t in place. To do so, you will need to install a small snippet of Javascript on every page of your site. Once in place you can go back to using Universal.

Insights From AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) insights have been a part of GA for some time now. However, the new insights and predictions from GA4 can alert marketers to data trends such as increased demand for a product. This advanced machine learning is able to predict outcomes, such as churn rate and potential revenue that could be earned from a particular market segment. Insights such as these allow marketers to anticipate future customer behavior, Advertisers can focus on higher value audiences, increasing ROI.

The new GA4 integrates actions taken in-app and across the web. This allows the user to see conversions that happen on Google paid platforms as well as non-Google paid platforms and organic channels side-by-side. Now a user who was targeted because of web behavior who then purchased in-app, will be removed from all retargeting lists so funds are not wasted.

New Reports

Reports in GA4 have also been updated and improved. Marketers can drill down to get a better understanding of the customer lifecycle. “For example, you can see what channels are driving new customers in the user acquisition report, then use the engagement and retention reports to understand the actions these customers take, and whether they stick around, after converting,” Google said.

Another improvement in the platform is codeless event tracking. Previously, if a user wanted to track events, such as video views or form submissions, code had to be added to the website or event tracking set up in Google Tag Manager to record those Goals. Now these events are recorded as soon as GA4 is installed.

As third-party cookies are phased out Google thinks one way to replace that data is with machine learning. So, while there will be data gaps, by having information captured across various platforms, from apps to web to off-line actions, AI should be able to fill those gaps.

Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 will provide a more thorough cross-channel view of the customer lifecycle and combines that data with predictive analysis, to give marketers more information and efficient ways to act on those insights. Consider this adapting to a future without cookies to offer analytics that more closely respond to our current and future marketplace. This powerful new tool is designed to help marketers for many years to come. Even if you are not prepared to wade into the new platform now, you should have it installed on your website as soon as possible.