Google Analytics 4: drawbacks and limitations—is it worth sticking around?

The free variation of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics, is the most greatly utilised web analytics resolution. The platform is so preferred that it dominates 86% market place share, producing Google the market place leader. But even though a lot of take into consideration Google Analytics the conventional, there are causes to talk to if it is the perfect option for your advertising and marketing setup—especially given that Google announced the sunset of Common Analytics.

On July 1, 2023, Common Analytics attributes will end processing new hits, forcing consumers to switch to its successor, Google Analytics 4. Whilst this may well appear to be like a purely natural development, marketers must not be fooled.

The studying curve will be steep—Google Analytics 4 is virtually an entirely new platform and continue to building. On leading of that, Google Analytics dangers dropping the users’ trust owing to gray regions all over the likes of privacy and knowledge ownership.

With a privacy-concentrated future forward, now is the time to request alternatives that improved harmony details selection with compliance. With a correct analytics system, entrepreneurs make your info assortment as it should really be: predictable and sustainable. Just after all, entrepreneurs and analysts want to course of action user-degree knowledge though creating belief with their readers.

In this write-up, we will dive into the challenges with Google Analytics 4 from a user viewpoint and from a privacy and compliance standpoint, so you can make an educated conclusion before switching platforms.

Consumer viewpoint: Google Analytics 4 is a move in the erroneous route

 Google Analytics 4 introduces an altered reporting and measurement engineering that is neither nicely recognized nor commonly accepted by the marketing and advertising neighborhood.

From a consumer experience point of view, quite a few obtain GA4 difficult to navigate. But beyond that, there are a host of troubles with the characteristic sets. Allow us dig deeper into all those limits: 

There is no straightforward way to migrate your facts

 Migration is a complicated process and need to be planned thoroughly. Sad to say, Google Analytics 4 does not make it any easier. Without knowledge or tag migration, all historic knowledge from Common Analytics will not be transferred to the new system.

The problem only grows with the organization’s size—you can have hundreds of tags to move. So, if entrepreneurs ought to begin collecting info from scratch, they may as properly switch to a new analytic software package.

Not-so-intuitive consumer interface

The most notable problem marketers and analysts will probably encounter with Google Analytics 4 is the unfamiliarity with the new interface.

A new dashboard has many immediately obvious discrepancies from what entrepreneurs are employed to operating. Hit styles are vital to how Common Analytic houses take care of all stats. Hit kinds involve web page hits, celebration hits, eCommerce hits, and social interaction hits.

GA4 doesn’t have any idea of a hit style like Universal Analytics utilizes. Every little thing in Google Analytics 4 is categorized as an “event.” This is a massive big difference.

In buy for entrepreneurs to have accomplishment on the new platform, they will have to adapt speedily to keep the exact same momentum they experienced with this prior system.

Restrictions on custom dimensions

A tailor made dimension is an attribute that marketers can configure in their analytics tool to dive deeper into their info. It presents the choice to pivot or segment this information to isolate a certain audience or website traffic for deeper analysis.

GA4 indeed enables for custom made dimensions to phase reviews, but there is a demanding restrict. You can only have up to 25 user-scoped customized dimensions and up to 50 occasion-scoped personalized proportions for every assets.

Absence of personalized channel grouping

Channel groupings are rule-primarily based groupings of advertising channels. When custom made, these groupings allow entrepreneurs to observe the efficiency of people channels successfully.

In contrast to Universal Analytics, GA4 does not enable you to create customized channel groupings in the new interface. Alternatively, entrepreneurs will only be ready to use their default channel groupings.

Motivations powering the limited deadline

 The deadline Google has remaining the analytics neighborhood to act is startling. There are lots of speculations as to why this may be, including:

1. Google may possibly have been disappointed with the velocity of adoption for Google Analytics 4 and decided to act decisively.
2. Google circumventing some of the lawful heat that Universal Analytics is dealing with in the EU.
3. Google wanting to lower costs and rid by itself of complex debt associated with hundreds of web-sites with legacy alternatives installed. Because GA4 is designed to assistance Google’s promoting community, it ensures additional revenue than the levels of competition.

Now there is a concrete deadline to make the switch, entrepreneurs will need to have to make your mind up no matter if they want to get started modifying to Google Analytics 4 or start out afresh with a new platform.

Privateness and compliance: Google Analytics 4 has a lengthy way to go

If a firm operates in a number of international locations, advertising teams will need to be knowledgeable of the various difficulties ensuing from the obligations of each regional details privacy laws and worldwide polices.

Details protection legislation continuously altering and tight safety rules only complicate points further. Reading through the tea leaves, we think GA4 will not last lengthy in Europe. Here’s why:

Google Analytics violates European legislation

Google tends to make it hard to accumulate data in line with the Common Knowledge Defense Regulation (GDPR), which aims to restore command of private info to customers and customers. The regulation requires you to obtain express consent when processing personalized data. Failure to comply with this provision can consequence in hefty fines or even prosecution.

The new choice of the Austrian Data Defense Authority (DSB), states that the use of Google Analytics constitutes a violation of GDPR. This means that organizations engaged in collecting, storing, and processing information about EU citizens have to adjust their insurance policies and introduce serious technological improvements to be GDPR-compliant.

There is no apparent guideline exactly where the facts is linked as a result of Google Analytics

A Google guideline implies info is transferred to the closest Google Analytics server hub. However, the knowledge may possibly be stored in a geographic spot that does not have adequate privacy security to the EU.

Recently released capabilities in GA4 partly handle this concern by enabling the initial portion of details selection (and anonymization) on European servers. Even so, data can, and most probable will, be sent to the U.S.

 The long term of marketing and advertising necessitates users’ consent

Irrespective of whether it be the facts excellent, tool limitations, lack of privateness-helpful features, or transparency in dealing with facts, we believe that marketers will very likely consider switching platforms.

Piwik Pro excluds the privacy and compliance difficulties connected with Google Analytics, letting entrepreneurs to gather information predictably and sustainably. The person interface and feature sets are comparable to Common Analytics, so entrepreneurs and analysts experience at house when switching to our platform.

If you would like to find out extra about Google Analytics solutions or get a lot more details on the Piwik Professional Analytics Suite, check out piwik.pro.

Even now undecided? Examine out our report on addressing the fears about switching to an choice analytics option and the analytic mentality you should really be having: Switching from Google Analytics—here’s what you want to know.