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Why should you replace GA3 with GA4?
After 18 years of service, Google Analytics, also known as Universal Analytics, will be sunset by Google and replaced by a new tool, Google Analytics 4 (GA4). GA4 was built to expand Google data tracking capabilities to reflect current challenges and evolution in digital marketing, and in 2023 Google will force companies to fully migrate to this new tool.
Google Analytics in the world of web analysis is like Google search in the world of search engines. GA sets the pace for the competitors and leaves them far behind also because most of the functions are free of charge . In addition, it should be noted that in the last months Google really sped up with new tracking technologies.
Users around the world have been using GA3 (Universal Analytics) since November 14, 2005. But after 15 years: October 14, 2020, Google announced a successor, a new version of Google Analytics: GA4. Completely new approach for data analysis. Approach which uses measurement based on events not on pageviews as was before and giving more advanced solutions for the website and app owners.
At the beginning users were not eager to change GA3 for GA4. Partly because of habits, partly because GA4 was still in beta version and not offering too many functionalities. This situation changed Mar 16, 2022. That was like a bucket of cold water for marketers who are still using Universal Analytics. And frankly speaking most of them were still using the old version of GA. That day Google announced they plan to sunset GA3 next year. At the same time Google sped up with developing GA4 and advanced tracking technologies. We have important dates here:
- Until July 1, 2023 - you can continue to use and collect new data in your Universal Analytics properties.
- After July 1, 2023 - you will be able to access your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months.
- In the coming months - Google will provide a future date for when existing Universal Analytics properties will no longer be available
Major business benefits of GA4 implementation
As we established even if you do not want you are forced to do GA shift for newer version if you are thinking about using Google Analytics in the future. We all do not like changes. But this time is also a good change. The change that will give you several benefits like automatic enhanced measurement, Big Query integration, data driven attribution, predictive audiences, integrated user id view, more flexible data model. A lot of buzzwords but meaningful. But if had to choose as a web analyst one of the most important business advantages of GA4 it would be the ability to track more data. And you know that when you have more data, you can make better decisions. Better decisions mean better performance. Better performance means more profitability.
I have tested different approaches to GA4 implementation. Basically I do custom implementation of GA4 using Google Tag Manager and data layers. I use also advanced features like Google Consent Mode and Server-Side tracking. And the results show that with this kind of setup we can track for the same websites even 100% more of data, than we were able to track using standard Universal Analytics. Mostly because Google Analytics 4, fills the data collection gaps (affected by data privacy) with Conversion Models and Behavioral modeling for consent mode. This is for me a game changer in current world of data privacy.
Check this out. Below you have a difference in result between GA3 and new GA4 for the same website. As you see we can track way more data using GA4 than GA3. The difference is significant
Last word
Do not hesitate. Plan your GA3 to GA4 migration. It is not jus a necessary change is also a good change. The sooner you do it, the better. If you, do it right, besides a lot of other benefits, you will be able to measure more data and to make better decision than before using Universal Analytics.
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