Universal Analytics, Google Analytics free version, is the most widely used web analytics solution. The platform is so popular that Google controls 86% of the market, making it the market leader. Despite the fact that many people regard Google Analytics as the gold standard, there are reasons to doubt whether it is the best option for your marketing setup, especially since Google announced the end of Universal Analytics.
On July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics properties will cease processing new hits, forcing users to migrate to its successor, Google Analytics 4. While this appears to be a natural progression, marketers should exercise caution.
Because Google Analytics 4 is a relatively new platform that is still in development, the learning curve will be steep. Furthermore, due to grey areas such as privacy and data ownership, Google Analytics risks losing user trust.
With a privacy-focused future in mind, now is the time to seek alternatives that better balance data collection and compliance. Marketers can use an analytics platform to make data collection more predictable and long-term. Marketers and analysts, after all, want to process user-level data while maintaining visitor trust.
Google Analytics 4 is a step backward in terms of user experience.
Google Analytics 4 introduces new reporting and measurement technology that the marketing community does not fully understand or accept. In terms of user experience, many people find GA4 difficult to navigate. Aside from that, the feature sets have a slew of issues. Let us look more closely at these constraints:
There is no simple way to migrate your data.
Migration is a complicated process that must be meticulously planned. Unfortunately, Google Analytics 4 complicates matters even more. Unless data or tag migration is performed, all historical data from Universal Analytics will not be transferred to the new platform.
The difficulty grows with the size of the organization—you may have to move hundreds of tags. If marketers must start collecting data from scratch, they might as well invest in new analytic software.
Incomprehensible user interface
The most significant challenge that marketers and analysts are likely to face with Google Analytics 4 is getting used to the new interface.
A new dashboard is very different from how marketers are used to working. Hit types have a significant impact on how Universal Analytic properties handle all stats. Hits include page hits, event hits, eCommerce hits, and social interaction hits.
The difficulty grows with the size of the organization—you may have to move hundreds of tags. If marketers must start collecting data from scratch, they might as well invest in new analytic software.
Incomprehensible user interface
The most significant challenge that marketers and analysts are likely to face with Google Analytics 4 is getting used to the new interface.
A new dashboard is very different from how marketers are used to working. Hit types have a significant impact on how Universal Analytic properties handle all stats. Hits include page hits, event hits, eCommerce hits, and social interaction hits.
GA4 does support custom dimensions for segmenting reports, but only to a certain extent. You can have up to 25 user-scoped custom dimensions and up to 50 event-scoped custom dimensions per property.
Custom channel grouping is not supported.
Channel groupings are marketing channel groupings that are based on rules. These groupings, when customised, allow marketers to efficiently track the performance of those channels.
GA4’s new interface, unlike Universal Analytics, does not allow you to create custom channel groupings. Rather, marketers will only have access to their default channel groupings.
The causes of the short deadline
- The deadline set by Google for the analytics community to act is startling. There are many theories as to why this is the case, including:
- Google may have grown dissatisfied with the rate of Google Analytics 4 adoption and decided to take decisive action.
- Google is avoiding some of the legal consequences that Universal Analytics is facing in the European Union.
- Google wants to reduce costs and eliminate technical debt associated with thousands of legacy websites. Because it is designed to support Google’s advertising network, GA4 guarantees more revenue than the competition.
Marketers must now decide whether to begin adjusting to Google Analytics 4 or wait to start over with a new platform now that there is a firm deadline to make the switch.
In terms of privacy and compliance, Google Analytics 4 has a long way to go.
Marketing teams must be aware of the numerous challenges posed by both local data privacy laws and international regulations if a company operates in multiple countries. Data protection legislation is constantly changing, and stringent security regulations only add to the confusion. GA4 will not last long in Europe, according to the tea leaves. Here’s why:
Google Analytics violates European Union law.
Google makes it difficult to collect data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to reclaim control over personal data for users and customers. The regulation requires you to obtain explicit consent when processing personal data. Failure to comply with this provision may result in heavy fines or even prosecution.
Using Google Analytics is a GDPR violation, according to a recent decision of the Austrian Data Protection Authority (DSB). Organizations that collect, store, and process data about EU citizens must modify their policies and implement significant technological changes to be GDPR-compliant.
There is no set procedure for connecting data via Google Analytics.
Data is transferred to the nearest Google Analytics server hub, according to Google. However, the data could be stored in a country that does not provide the EU with adequate privacy protection. New GA4 features address this concern in part by allowing the first stage of data collection (and anonymization) to take place on European servers. Data, on the other hand, can and almost certainly will be sent to the United States.
Users’ permission is required for the future of marketing.
We believe that marketers will consider switching platforms as a result of poor data quality, tool limitations, a lack of privacy-friendly features, or a lack of transparency in data handling.
Piwik PRO eliminates Google Analytics’ privacy and compliance concerns, allowing marketers to collect data in a predictable and long-term manner. Marketers and analysts will feel at ease switching to our platform because the user interface and feature sets are similar to those of Universal Analytics.
To learn more about Google Analytics alternatives or the Piwik PRO Analytics Suite, go to Piwik.pro.