Google Analytics 4: drawbacks and limitations—is it worth sticking around?
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The free version of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics, is the most commonly used world-wide-web analytics remedy. The platform is so preferred that it dominates 86% marketplace share, earning Google the market chief. But even however numerous take into account Google Analytics the regular, there are reasons to question if it is the ideal decision for your internet marketing setup—especially considering that Google declared the sunset of Universal Analytics.
On July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics attributes will halt processing new hits, forcing consumers to change to its successor, Google Analytics 4. While this could seem to be like a all-natural development, entrepreneurs need to not be fooled.
The mastering curve will be steep—Google Analytics 4 is virtually an completely new platform and nevertheless producing. On top of that, Google Analytics dangers dropping the users’ belief because of to grey parts all-around the likes of privateness and information ownership.
With a privateness-centered future in advance, now is the time to search for solutions that much better balance knowledge selection with compliance. With a proper analytics system, marketers make your data selection as it ought to be: predictable and sustainable. Just after all, marketers and analysts want to approach consumer-amount knowledge though developing trust with their guests.
In this report, we will dive into the issues with Google Analytics 4 from a user standpoint and from a privacy and compliance standpoint, so you can make an knowledgeable decision before switching platforms.
Person point of view: Google Analytics 4 is a action in the mistaken direction
Google Analytics 4 introduces an altered reporting and measurement engineering that is neither properly comprehended nor broadly acknowledged by the internet marketing community.
From a consumer encounter perspective, a lot of find GA4 difficult to navigate. But further than that, there are a host of troubles with the aspect sets. Permit us dig deeper into individuals constraints:
There is no basic way to migrate your info
Migration is a elaborate course of action and should be planned carefully. Regrettably, Google Analytics 4 does not make it any much easier. Without the need of details or tag migration, all historical info from Common Analytics will not be transferred to the new platform.
The challenge only grows with the organization’s size—you can have hundreds of tags to move. So, if entrepreneurs should get started accumulating knowledge from scratch, they may well as well change to a new analytic software.
Not-so-intuitive user interface
The most distinguished obstacle entrepreneurs and analysts will likely face with Google Analytics 4 is the unfamiliarity with the new interface.
A new dashboard has numerous immediately evident differences from what marketers are utilised to working. Strike types are crucial to how Universal Analytic attributes manage all stats. Hit styles include page hits, event hits, eCommerce hits, and social conversation hits.
GA4 doesn’t have any principle of a hit sort like Universal Analytics works by using. Every little thing in Google Analytics 4 is classified as an “event.” This is a big difference.
In buy for marketers to have accomplishment on the new system, they will have to adapt immediately to sustain the very same momentum they had with this previous platform.
Restrictions on tailor made proportions
A custom dimension is an attribute that entrepreneurs can configure in their analytics device to dive further into their knowledge. It provides the option to pivot or phase this info to isolate a distinct audience or targeted traffic for deeper analysis.
GA4 in fact lets for tailor made proportions to segment reviews, but there is a stringent restrict. You can only have up to 25 person-scoped tailor made dimensions and up to 50 celebration-scoped custom made dimensions for every assets.
Lack of tailor made channel grouping
Channel groupings are rule-based mostly groupings of promoting channels. When personalized, these groupings enable marketers to keep track of the overall performance of these channels proficiently.
Unlike Common Analytics, GA4 does not let you to make tailor made channel groupings in the new interface. Instead, entrepreneurs will only be equipped to use their default channel groupings.
Motivations powering the quick deadline
The deadline Google has left the analytics community to act is startling. There are a lot of speculations as to why this might be, which include:
- Google may possibly have been dissatisfied with the velocity of adoption for Google Analytics 4 and decided to act decisively.
- Google circumventing some of the lawful heat that Universal Analytics is dealing with in the EU.
- Google wanting to minimize expenses and rid by itself of complex financial debt affiliated with thousands of web-sites with legacy options set up. Considering the fact that GA4 is built to assist Google’s promoting network, it guarantees additional income than the level of competition.
Now there is a concrete deadline to make the switch, entrepreneurs will will need to make a decision no matter if they want to start out altering to Google Analytics 4 or get started afresh with a new system.
Privateness and compliance: Google Analytics 4 has a long way to go
If a corporation operates in multiple international locations, promoting groups will will need to be aware of the quite a few problems ensuing from the obligations of equally neighborhood data privateness regulations and intercontinental restrictions.
Facts defense laws continually switching and limited stability regulations only complicate points further. Reading the tea leaves, we believe GA4 will not very last lengthy in Europe. Here’s why:
Google Analytics violates European legislation
Google can make it tough to acquire facts in line with the Typical Data Defense Regulation (GDPR), which aims to restore handle of personal info to people and shoppers. The regulation needs you to obtain specific consent when processing private info. Failure to comply with this provision can result in hefty fines or even prosecution.
The current determination of the Austrian Details Protection Authority (DSB), states that the use of Google Analytics constitutes a violation of GDPR. This suggests that businesses engaged in gathering, storing, and processing details about EU citizens have to alter their procedures and introduce serious technological alterations to be GDPR-compliant.
There is no distinct guideline wherever the knowledge is related by way of Google Analytics
A Google tutorial indicates details is transferred to the closest Google Analytics server hub. Nevertheless, the facts may well be stored in a geographic site that does not have satisfactory privateness safety to the EU.
Recently released features in GA4 partly address this problem by allowing the to start with portion of info collection (and anonymization) on European servers. Nevertheless, knowledge can, and most probably will, be sent to the U.S.
The future of internet marketing necessitates users’ consent
No matter whether it be the information high-quality, device limitations, deficiency of privateness-welcoming characteristics, or transparency in handling knowledge, we imagine entrepreneurs will likely contemplate switching platforms.
Piwik Professional excluds the privacy and compliance concerns connected with Google Analytics, letting marketers to obtain info predictably and sustainably. The consumer interface and attribute sets are similar to Universal Analytics, so entrepreneurs and analysts really feel at dwelling when switching to our platform.
If you would like to understand much more about Google Analytics solutions or get extra details on the Piwik Pro Analytics Suite, check out piwik.professional.
Nonetheless undecided? Check out our posting on addressing the problems about switching to an substitute analytics option and the analytic state of mind you must be using: Switching from Google Analytics—here’s what you want to know.
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