Act now: date for the death of Universal Analytics released

Home Insights Act now: date for the death of Universal Analytics released

Paul Shearing

Head of Analytics and Data Science

March 16th 2022

Industry News

From 1^st July 2023, Universal Google Analytics (GA) will be discontinued and GA4 will become the only version of Google Analytics.

The anticipated transition to GA4 has now been allocated a deadline, making it more important than ever to make the switch. To ensure your year-on-year data is retained, GA4 needs to be set up by the end of June this year to achieve a full 12-month YOY data history.

In order to maintain continuity and optimise GA4, the interface will need to be customised to your needs to ensure you get the same reporting capabilities. After July 1^st 2023, Universal Analytics will no longer record data.

The views will remain available for a six-month period of read-only access, and after this, all data will be deleted. Google will be pushing this message to its universal GA users in-platform via banners highlighting the urgency surrounding this.

For GA360 users, the retirement date will be extended to 1^st October 2023 and users will be encouraged to recontract on the premium version of GA4.

What should you do now?

If you do not have GA4 setup

You need to move fast to have this set up before 30^th June 2022. If you do not, you will not have year-on-year data to compare to once Universal is switched to read-only.

It is important to note that planning your GA4 implementation should consider any custom dimensions and metrics you currently track to ensure that GA4 captures the data that matters to your business.

If you have GA4 setup already

You can make the switch to GA4 being your single source of the truth at any point. However, having a year’s worth of data will be beneficial for YOY analysis. As Universal and GA4 are different analytics solutions, it is important to ensure you are confident GA4 is collecting data to your requirements. GA4 is set up to be much more robust than Universal, so the data will be much more comprehensive.

You should also think about what other platforms use data from Universal – such as Google Ads. Whilst you are running a dual implementation with Universal and GA4, you will need to mark your conversions as primary and secondary to avoid double counting, and once you are confident in your GA4 setup, remove Universal completely.

Timeline to retirement

How we can help

We can help with your setup and transition to GA4, enabling your business to begin to reap the benefits of Google’s innovation. The platform is filled with next-generation features and practical applications designed to streamline the analytics process and help your business grow.

In our recent on-demand workshop, our Head of Analytics and Data Science, Paul Shearing explores the multitude of new features and cross-platform insights available in GA4. Our Head of Digital Strategy, Jimmy McCann walks through GA4’s solutions for reconnecting the customer journey, cookieless challenges and the opportunities the platform can provide for brands.

Watch the webinar to hear about all of the benefits of GA4 that you can take advantage of now.

As one of the few trusted UK Google Marketing Platform Sales Partners, we are well placed to help you with this transition process. For further information on how we can help you with GA4, please get in touch.