Google Analytics 4: drawbacks and limitations—is it worth sticking around?
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The cost-free edition of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics, is the most broadly used world-wide-web analytics remedy. The system is so common that it dominates 86% sector share, building Google the current market chief. But even though a lot of take into consideration Google Analytics the standard, there are factors to inquire if it is the great preference for your promoting setup—especially since Google introduced the sunset of Universal Analytics.
On July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics qualities will halt processing new hits, forcing buyers to swap to its successor, Google Analytics 4. Whilst this could seem like a all-natural development, entrepreneurs ought to not be fooled.
The studying curve will be steep—Google Analytics 4 is almost an fully new platform and even now producing. On prime of that, Google Analytics hazards losing the users’ belief because of to grey locations all around the likes of privacy and knowledge ownership.
With a privacy-centered long term ahead, now is the time to look for options that better balance facts assortment with compliance. With a proper analytics platform, entrepreneurs make your details selection as it must be: predictable and sustainable. After all, entrepreneurs and analysts want to process person-degree info even though setting up have faith in with their readers.
In this article, we will dive into the troubles with Google Analytics 4 from a consumer standpoint and from a privacy and compliance standpoint, so you can make an informed selection before switching platforms.
Person point of view: Google Analytics 4 is a step in the erroneous route
Google Analytics 4 introduces an altered reporting and measurement technological innovation that is neither properly comprehended nor widely approved by the advertising group.
From a person encounter standpoint, lots of come across GA4 hard to navigate. But beyond that, there are a host of worries with the aspect sets. Allow us dig deeper into individuals constraints:
There is no basic way to migrate your facts
Migration is a sophisticated approach and should really be planned thoroughly. However, Google Analytics 4 does not make it any less difficult. With no facts or tag migration, all historical info from Common Analytics will not be transferred to the new system.
The obstacle only grows with the organization’s size—you can have hundreds of tags to go. So, if entrepreneurs must get started amassing data from scratch, they may well as very well swap to a new analytic program.
Not-so-intuitive user interface
The most popular challenge entrepreneurs and analysts will probable come upon with Google Analytics 4 is the unfamiliarity with the new interface.
A new dashboard has numerous quickly clear variations from what marketers are used to functioning. Hit forms are important to how Universal Analytic homes handle all stats. Hit types contain page hits, celebration hits, eCommerce hits, and social conversation hits.
GA4 doesn’t have any principle of a strike sort like Common Analytics uses. Everything in Google Analytics 4 is classified as an “event.” This is a large variance.
In order for marketers to have achievements on the new platform, they will have to adapt rapidly to sustain the same momentum they had with this earlier platform.
Limitations on tailor made proportions
A customized dimension is an attribute that entrepreneurs can configure in their analytics tool to dive deeper into their knowledge. It offers the solution to pivot or section this data to isolate a specific viewers or visitors for deeper analysis.
GA4 certainly makes it possible for for personalized dimensions to section experiences, but there is a rigorous restrict. You can only have up to 25 consumer-scoped custom proportions and up to 50 celebration-scoped custom made dimensions per house.
Deficiency of custom channel grouping
Channel groupings are rule-dependent groupings of internet marketing channels. When tailored, these groupings allow marketers to track the functionality of individuals channels efficiently.
Contrary to Common Analytics, GA4 does not let you to produce custom made channel groupings in the new interface. Alternatively, marketers will only be in a position to use their default channel groupings.
Motivations at the rear of the small deadline
The deadline Google has still left the analytics group to act is startling. There are several speculations as to why this could possibly be, such as:
- Google may have been let down with the speed of adoption for Google Analytics 4 and resolved to act decisively.
- Google circumventing some of the legal heat that Common Analytics is experiencing in the EU.
- Google wanting to reduce expenditures and rid by itself of specialized personal debt involved with hundreds of internet websites with legacy options mounted. Considering that GA4 is designed to aid Google’s marketing community, it guarantees a lot more income than the levels of competition.
Now there is a concrete deadline to make the swap, marketers will want to decide no matter if they want to start out adjusting to Google Analytics 4 or start afresh with a new system.
Privateness and compliance: Google Analytics 4 has a very long way to go
If a enterprise operates in various nations around the world, advertising and marketing teams will require to be informed of the a lot of challenges ensuing from the obligations of both community info privateness rules and international regulations.
Data safety legislation continuously changing and restricted security regulations only complicate items more. Looking at the tea leaves, we imagine GA4 will not very last extensive in Europe. Here’s why:
Google Analytics violates European law
Google tends to make it tough to collect information in line with the Basic Details Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to restore manage of personal details to end users and customers. The regulation calls for you to receive specific consent when processing own knowledge. Failure to comply with this provision can end result in significant fines or even prosecution.
The the latest conclusion of the Austrian Data Protection Authority (DSB), states that the use of Google Analytics constitutes a violation of GDPR. This usually means that organizations engaged in gathering, storing, and processing information about EU citizens have to modify their policies and introduce really serious technological improvements to be GDPR-compliant.
There is no clear guideline in which the facts is related by way of Google Analytics
A Google guide implies details is transferred to the closest Google Analytics server hub. Nevertheless, the facts may be stored in a geographic site that does not have ample privateness safety to the EU.
Newly introduced functions in GA4 partly deal with this concern by enabling the first aspect of data collection (and anonymization) on European servers. Nevertheless, info can, and most likely will, be despatched to the U.S.
The future of advertising and marketing involves users’ consent
Whether it be the facts top quality, device limits, lack of privateness-helpful functions, or transparency in dealing with knowledge, we imagine entrepreneurs will probably consider switching platforms.
Piwik Pro excluds the privacy and compliance challenges affiliated with Google Analytics, enabling marketers to collect info predictably and sustainably. The consumer interface and attribute sets are equivalent to Universal Analytics, so marketers and analysts feel at household when switching to our platform.
If you would like to study much more about Google Analytics solutions or get a lot more details on the Piwik Professional Analytics Suite, check out piwik.pro.
Continue to undecided? Look at out our post on addressing the worries about switching to an choice analytics option and the analytic mentality you need to be taking: Switching from Google Analytics—here’s what you need to have to know.