GA4 Vs Universal Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the communication tools used by businesses, which has been used to analyze websites and applications for many years. At the beginning of 2020, Google released Google Analytics 4 (GA4), setting a new era for data acquisition and knowledge processing. And if you’re confused between these two platforms about basic differences: this blog post will explain it in simple language about GA4 Vs Universal Analytics.

Understanding Universal Analytics (UA)

Universal Analytics, or UA as it is sometimes called, has been Google’s standard offering for the better part of a decade. It is mainly used to monitor activity in website contexts and how users respond to it. Like most analytics tools, UA employs session-based tracking, where the data received is divided into User Sessions, which are in a certain time frame.

Some key features of UA include:

Session-based data model: Records user activity in terms of duration of use set by the application.

Cookies for tracking: Depends mostly on browser cookies to obtain its information.

Focus on web analytics: Most appropriate for analyzing the results of Internet campaigns.

Pre-defined reports: Gives elaborated, prepared reports for immediate use.

Google Analytics 4 has been released: Here’s what you need to know

GA4 is the latest web analytics platform developed by Google to help tackle the increased complexity of tracking data. While UA focuses on the tracking of a single type of user interaction i.e., screen views, Google Analytics 4 is more flexible with event-based tracking, allowing it to be easily implemented on website or mobile applications.

Some key features of GA4 include:

Event-based data model: Records every communication as an event.

Cross-platform tracking: It was designed to smoothly link information from the web and applications.

Privacy-focused approach: Contemporary, aimed at meeting some updated rules regarding people’s privacy.

Customizable reports: To offer more choices in ways to layer your analysis depending on what you want to know out of the data you collected.

Main Differences between GA4 Vs Universal Analytics

Now, let’s dive deeper into the main differences between GA4 Vs Universal Analytics:

1. Data Model: Sessions vs Events:

Universal Analytics: Uses Session Base Model where a session is a set of multiple client interactions (Page views, clicks) within a particular period.

Google Analytics 4: Uses an event-based process in which every user action, such as page views, clicks, and video plays, is an event. It provides more detailed and versatile data compared to the other approach.

2. Cross-Platform Tracking:

Universal Analytics: First or primarily designed to monitor web information. If you want to monitor the app data then you have to create different properties.

Google Analytics 4: It integrates web and app data into just one property, which will benefit businesses where clients interact through both web and apps. For example, it becomes easy to monitor the level of interaction that a particular user has with your brand through a website and a mobile app in particular.

3. User-Centric Reporting GA4 Vs Universal Analytics:

Universal Analytics: Uses cookies for tracking its users so it becomes a session-based system. It has its drawbacks, for example, it cannot track the same user across devices.

Google Analytics: Based on machine learning and Google Signals to provide a user-oriented perspective. It can monitor multiple devices and platforms and thus provide insight into the customer’s journey.

4. Privacy and Compliance:

UA is very dependent on cookies and IP addresses which are gradually getting banned by GDPR and CCPA among others.

Google Analytics 4: It is private by nature, and does not collect or use IP addresses. It’s intended to work well in an environment where there are fewer cookies used to track data.

5. Enhanced Measurement:

Universal Analytics: Specific interactions like video plays, file downloads or scroll depth can be only tracked manually.

Google Analytics 4: Individualises numerous interactions right out of the box through Enhanced Measurement and tracks scrolls, outbound link clicks, and video engagement.

6. Customizable Reports – GA4 Vs Universal Analytics:

Universal Analytics: Has a limited number of reports that are fixed in terms of format yet comprehensive in terms of information included. There are not many choices for customization.

Google Analytics 4: Provides better possibilities to create unique reports and, in any way, navigate through the numbers that are interesting to a particular company.

What Makes You Decide to Migrate to GA4?

With UA being phased out, Google recommends transitioning to Google Analytics 4 for several reasons:

Future-proof analytics: Google Analytics 4 is developed with the ability to address the dynamic privacy laws or the general reduction in the use of cookies.

Comprehensive insights: Using this kind of model of tracking events and behavior across platforms may give a better picture of how each user is operating.

Advanced tools: Some of the features such as machine learning predictions and report customizing options make GA4 a tool suitable for the current business world.

Adjustment to GA4 Vs Universal Analytics : Questions and Difficulties:

While Google Analytics 4 offers many benefits, there are some challenges to consider:

Learning curve: It also means that the interface and the data model are different from UA and there will need to be an adjustment.

Historical data: Consequently, Google Analytics 4 does not integrate historical data from the previous UA; therefore, it is necessary to keep access to the UA account for the previous data.

Initial setup: Some of the features of GA4 can be complex and configuring might need tech support, at least for those who’ll be utilizing some of its complex features.

Conclusion:

Moving from UA to Google Analytics 4 is an unprecedented change in measuring data in digital marketing. In contrast to cross-platform and privacy-compliant GA4, Universal Analytics uses a session-based method more familiar to classic web analytics. So if you are deciding between GA4 Vs Universal Analytics, then it’s apparent that GA4 is the way to go.

This way businesses will be able to take advantage of more features, get more data, and meet the requirements of new privacy requirements. The transition may seem to call for some amount of effort, but then again the advantages of change are immeasurable.

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GA4 Vs Universal Analytics: What Is The Difference?