Key differences between Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Universal Analytics
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WHAT IS GA4?
The future is here, and its name is Google Analytics 4 (GA4). GA4 isn’t only here to be used as the newest offering by Google, it is here to take over as the current offering Universal Analytics (UA) is set to sunset in July of 2023 (GA360 users get 3 additional months of usage until October 2023). Once UA is sunset it will no longer collect data and the only way to capture data is to implement GA4.
In today’s blog we are going to discuss what GA4 is, how it compares to UA and what you need to do as a company to prepare to migrate to GA4.
Plan your GA4 migration with Softcrylic.
WHY GA4?
This is the biggest change to data collection by Google since 2012 when UA replaced the self-named Google Analytics. So why biggest change in data collection in almost a decade? The answer to the why is simple, privacy, with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming out in 2018 the need for Google to rethink how they collect data led to the release of GA4 in October of 2020, but with the changes made to account for privacy Google was able to change the landscape of how their data collection is happening opening up doors that are going to change the game in Analytics.
See the differences in tracking between GA and AA here.
See the GA4 Updates as of 2021.
GA4 vs Universal Analytics KEY DIFFERENCES
Alright so we have covered the why, now let’s cover the what. What are the main differences between UA and GA4? Here are some of the key differences we are going to cover in this blog:
IP STORING
The storing of IP addresses in Google Analytics will no longer occur in a migration to GA4. In UA the collection of IP address was used largely for user location and ad targeting but Google is stating that the collection and storing of a user’s IP address simply isn’t needed anymore and by incorporating more modeled data into analytics Google is able to determine an approximate location because it will log the location of where a user is when interacting with your digital property.
DATA DELETION AND RETENTION
For the first time in the history of Google Analytics, Google is releasing a data deletion feature. In UA, to remove data from the Analytics servers, users must put in a data deletion request within the admin tools. Users would then be notified via email that the data was successfully deleted. Now, conversely within GA4, users can directly delete data within the admin tools. Once the data has been deleted there is a 7-day window to preview the changes before the deletion becomes permanent.
Additionally, Google also updated their data retention policy. In UA expiration for both user and event level could be set to either: does not automatically expire or expires after 14, 26, 38 or 50 months. On the other hand, in GA4 users can set the expiration for user level and event level data independent of each other. For user level data, retention can be set to any custom date range up to 14 months. For all other event level data, retention can be set to either 2 months or 14 months.
ACCOUNT STRUCTURE
The new data collection approach not only helps with privacy, but it also unlocks more potential in what we can learn about a user journey on your digital properties. GA4 reporting is based on a single reporting property and does not use views like Universal Analytics. You can apply data filters to your property but gone are the days in which you have to create a custom view like in UA. One new offering in GA4 is with the use of Data Streams. Data Streams are the ways in which data flows from your digital property into Analytics. In GA4 there are 3 types of data streams:
- Web for websites
- iOS for iOS apps
- Android for Android Apps
Once the data is collected, it is sent into a Google Analytics property. With GA4 one property can have multiple data streams. This means with GA4 you can measure and analyze how users are interacting with all your digital properties in one place combining both web and app.
SHIFTING FROM SESSIONS TO EVENTS
Another big change in GA4 is a move to an Event-Driven Model. The foundation of all data collection in previous versions of Google Analytics was in sessions. Within those sessions actions that are taken by a user such as page views are collected and stored. This data model was a big barrier in cross platform reporting so Google in GA4 is shifting to an event-based data model. What this means is all data that is collected and sent to GA4 is measured as an event. This does not mean that page views are going away, it just means they are one of the many custom events you are able to create and measure on your GA4 implementation. Events are used to collect specific information associated with an action being taken by a user. These events will provide a greater ability for analysis and insight into what users are doing on your website or app.
REPORTING
Ok so the data has been collected, it is secure, now what? How does GA4 compare to UA when it comes to reports. In UA the focus as I see it was to be heavily focused on standardized reports available for end user consumption. This does not appear to be the goal with GA4 as there are fewer standard reports, and while this could appear as it being harder to consume data what I think this allows is for a greater ability to create reports that are custom and tailored to your property needs.
When you first arrive the first thing you will notice is the change in the left side navigation.
Here is a side-by-side view of the left-hand navigation for both GA4 and UA. The biggest comparison you will see is that GA4 does not have as many standard reports but instead they focus on 2 main sections, Reports and Explore.
GA4
UA
Located in Reports you will find the out of the box reports separated into 2 main sections: Life Cycle and Users. Here is where you will start to see some similarities to UA. This is where you will find Acquisition, Engagement (Behavior in UA) and Monetization (Conversions in UA). The difference here is that Audiences are now referred to as Users and put into their own group in GA4.
Explore in GA4 is an evolution of a GA-UA feature that was exclusive to paying GA360 users in UA. Now it is free to all GA4 users, including GA Standard. It allows for a user to gain deeper insights about a user and their journey. Within Explore you can create Explorations that allow you to go beyond standard reports to help you uncover deeper insights about a customer’s behavior.
As you can see here you can create a new exploration from scratch or use one of the many templates provided by Google. Once you create an exploration you are met with a very robust explorations editor which allows you the ability to configure your exploration by selecting and applying.
There could be an entire blog around Explorations and how to use and build out robust Explorations but for today’s blog we will cover the basics.
In exploration you can select and apply all segments, dimensions, and metrics you are looking to have in your exploration. Once you have your Variables and data range selected use the Tab Setting tab of the Explorations Editor and configure how your exploration will look. This includes any visualizations you would like to occur, segment comparison, what variables are in what row and columns along with what metrics you will be reporting on.
BigQuery STREAMING CONNECTION FOR ALL USERS
The final difference we are going to cover is GA4’s ability to allow all users access to BigQuery. In UA this was also only made available to paying GA360 subscribers. Now it is available to everyone.
If you are unfamiliar with BigQuery it is a serverless data warehouse that gives users the ability to export unsampled Analytics data. One catch to note here is that BigQuery does not follow standard GA naming conventions but follows a specific BigQuery schema. BigQuery becomes super useful when you want to extract data from GA and integrate into downstream BI tools like PowerBI, Looker, Domo, or Tableau.
Learn about Google Analytics Sessions and Non-Interaction Events in BigQuery.
CHANNEL GROUPINGS
Channel groupings in GA4 are rule based groupings of your traffic sources. One change that anyone migrating from Universal Analytics to GA4 will notice is the inability to edit the default channel groupings. This is causing some heads to turn as many users rely on the ability to edit those channel groups to report and measure campaign performance.
Without the ability to edit these custom channel groupings users are having to manually consolidate using either the Exploration report or creating a custom segment and filters if you are looking to report on a single referrer being classified as multiple channels.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As we have discussed and outlined, the move to GA4 isn’t an option as UA will be going away in July of 2023. Getting started now allows for you to begin data collection that will allow you to have historical data in GA4 when UA is turned off. Let us help you get migrated and ready talk to our experts here.
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