Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) was fundamental to businesses since its introduction in 2012, enabling websites to collect vital visitor data. However, with the release of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in 2020, experts began speculating when Google would phase out its decade-old workhorse.
That time came in July 2023 when most UA properties ceased collecting new data. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to ensure your site has an active GA4 property and configure its setup.
What’s the Difference Between UA and GA4?
Google Analytics 4 is based on event data whereas UA operated from multiple “hit” types. GA4 also provides measurement across platforms and devices “using multiple forms of identity” in anticipation of cookie-based tracking soon becoming less prevalent.
Another core difference is that GA4 currently doesn’t have the “view” level many businesses utilized in UA to segment different traffic types such as filtering out internal traffic from employees. It remains to be seen if this feature will be incorporated into GA4 at some point.
How to Set Up a Google Analytics 4 Property
If you previously used UA but didn’t manually create a new GA4 property during the 2020-2023 transitional period, Google likely auto-generated a GA4 property from your UA setup. If so, you’ll want to confirm site data is being processed properly and recreate any custom configurations such as events that might not have been migrated.
If you’re setting up a new property from scratch, GA4 will be the default option. Upon visiting analytics.google.com, Google offers a simple walkthrough of creating the property and deploying it via Google Tag Manager or another method.
When Did Google Analytics UA Go Away?
Google halted the collection of new data in UA properties on July 1, 2023. Historical data was available for approximately another 12 months before Google removed these properties from users’ view.
What’s Next
If you haven’t already, create a GA4 property for your website. This is also an ideal time to connect GA4 data to other digital platforms your business may utilize such as Google Ads or Google Looker Studio reporting.
