What is GA4?

GA4 is the next generation of Google Analytics, which was launched in October 2020. 

The previous generation, called Universal Analytics, is getting deprecated in July 2023, so it’s important to make sure you’re ready for the change.

website analytics search page

What’s changing from Universal Analytics?

Google has designed several new features for GA4 which will mark a big change from Universal Analytics.

According to the GA4 Help page, GA4 will:

  • Collect both website and app data to better understand the customer journey
  • Use events instead of session-based data
  • Include privacy controls such as cookie-less measurement, and behavioral and conversion modeling
  • Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models
  • Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on your website or app

Let’s have a deeper look into some of these differences to see how they’ll impact you.

Events

Events measure user interactions on your website or app. GA4 uses this tool instead of session data to measure these interactions. 

A ‘session’ begins when a user opens your website or app and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. ‘Session data’ focused on events which were linked to a specific session, so if a user had two separate sessions which overlapped (for example, by having your website open on two browser windows), there would be separate sets of data linked to each session.

Events work slightly differently, by measuring distinct user activity on your website or app. GA4 has lots of different types of events, including custom ones which you can set yourself. To see which events are automatically collected by GA4, click here.

To migrate your existing events from Universal Analytics to GA4, check out the Google Help page here.

man brainstorming

GA4 New Privacy Controls

A principal feature of GA4’s privacy controls is the option to disable data collection from both apps and websites. This includes advertising data collection, advertising personalization, retention periods, and more.

Read more about adjusting your data collection settings here.

GDPR has also affected GA4’s controls. For instance, European Union users’ data is now processed, as well as collected, in the EU. Previously, this data was processed in the United States, which caused some GDPR concerns and complaints.

Check out some additional privacy updates here.

How to Migrate from Universal to GA4

To get started with setting up Google Analytics 4, visit this Google Help page here for a full step-by-step guide.

To set it up on a brand new website or app, view this guide.

Need a Hand?

If you need help, including migrating and adapting your marketing content and strategy to fit in with GA4, don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Fill out the contact form here and we’ll be in touch!