Entrepreneurs have criticized Google Analytics 4 because it was launched in late 2020.
The checklist of complaints is lengthy – from the transfer from person monitoring to occasion monitoring, to the lacking normal stories, and the substitute of bounce fee with engagement fee, to call just some.
GA4 is the predominant platform for measuring web site efficiency and person conduct. (That is partly as a result of it’s free, and plenty of rivals disappeared through the years as they couldn’t give away their software program for gratis.)
Though some will argue that GA4 falls quick in lots of areas, I consider that many of those perceived flaws are, in actual fact, true enhancements to the product.
This text explores 5 major criticisms of GA4 and sheds mild on how they really contribute to its enchancment.
1. Knowledge discrepancies and disruptions
One main concern about GA4 is the potential for information discrepancies and disruptions. This additionally occurred in 2012, when customers had been compelled to vary from the unique Google Analytics (GA2) to Common Analytics (GA3, AKA UA).
With every iteration, the strategy utilized by any analytics device for calculating distinctive customers and periods modifications. That is to measure extra precisely these crucial information factors utilized in just about all key efficiency indicators (KPIs).
Critics argue that the brand new information mannequin and measurement protocol result in inconsistencies, making counting on GA4 for correct reporting troublesome. This can be a flaw of their logic.
By not understanding the variations, they assume it’s inaccurate, whereas the fact is that it’s extra correct than UA.
Because of this analytics professionals (like myself) have been advocating for companies to allow GA4 for effectively over a 12 months now. This ensures you have got a full 12 months of knowledge for significant comparisons (evaluating GA4 vs. UA with over a 12 months of knowledge).
For varied causes, many organizations waited or didn’t hassle to overview the configuration till the final minute to make sure right information assortment. They’re now confronted with a terrific problem when conducting interval comparative evaluation.
Customers should embrace this chance, revisit their measurement plans and undertake a extra complete and holistic strategy to information evaluation. With GA4, organizations can leverage a number of information sources (by third-party information imports) and combine them to achieve a deeper understanding of their customers and their journey, which was practically inconceivable with UA.
2. Studying curve and interface complexity
GA4 introduces a revamped person interface and a unique strategy to reporting, resulting in a steep studying curve for a lot of customers.
Any change in a UI is troublesome. GA4’s UI has been fully overhauled with no similarities to its predecessor. Critics argue that the complexity of the brand new interface hinders its adoption and usefulness.
This shouldn’t be a shock to any person. Most software program upgrades to new variations include a brand new UI. With any new UI, there’s at all times a studying curve.
The redesigned interface displays a shift towards a extra user-centric strategy. It empowers all customers (entrepreneurs and analysts) to discover information in a extra intuitive and customizable method, enabling deeper evaluation and uncovering hidden patterns.
The brand new customizable interface enables you to make the GA4 interface actually your individual. Take away stories that don’t apply to your enterprise. Add customized stories which might be tailor-made to your group. Set up and group stories into significant classes. (No have to find out how Google thinks stories must be named or grouped!)
Whereas the preliminary studying curve could also be daunting, the long-term advantages of improved information interpretation and actionable insights and a totally customizable interface far outweigh this non permanent inconvenience.
3. Restricted historic information
One other critique of GA4 is its restricted compatibility with historic information from UA. Customers argue that this limitation hampers the flexibility to conduct significant pattern evaluation and observe long-term efficiency precisely.
This isn’t new.
The identical perspective was taken when GA migrated to UA. Again in 2012, there wasn’t an possibility both to port previous information into the brand new measurement logic of UA. This left companies with evaluating apples to oranges (earlier than and after the change) of their information.
Many analytics professionals have lengthy advocated and argued that there was little analytics perception to achieve from revisiting information greater than a 12 months previous and most actually over two years previous. The pandemic’s influence on many companies makes evaluating year-over-year information meaningless, and so does evaluating the previous months to the identical interval from three or 4 years prior.
Web sites and apps have been up to date, advertising and marketing methods modernized and the worldwide financial system and person preferences have modified. Except your reporting considers this, merely reporting customers, periods and even gross sales numbers out of context was and nonetheless is meaningless.
The brand new most GA information storage restrict of 14 months is disconcerting in comparison with the earlier “limitless” possibility. To deal with this concern, Google has given all accounts a free BigQuery (information warehouse) account. By storing your information right here, you continue to get just about a vast timeframe of storage.
Granted, configuring and utilizing BigQuery will not be easy. It entails a steep studying curve and time dedication that’s past many Google Analytics customers, particularly these with out their very own information workforce.
With restricted historic information, you need to reevaluate your strategy to measurement. How are you going to judge success? Adopting GA4 allows us to revisit our information assortment methods and redefine KPIs.
This shift prompts a recent perspective on information evaluation, specializing in real-time and forward-looking insights moderately than relying solely on historic tendencies. Consequently, we are able to higher align methods with present market dynamics and adapt swiftly to altering client conduct.
Whereas digital analytics helps consider advertising and marketing efficiency, it’s far simpler at producing questions than answering them. Reviewing your analytics for person conduct modifications — after which investigating why — yields larger worth than merely utilizing it to validate marketing campaign effectiveness.
4. Diminished customization choices
GA4 presents a extra streamlined strategy to occasion monitoring and customization in comparison with its predecessor.
Critics declare that this discount in customization choices (customized stories solely) limits the flexibility to trace particular person actions and tailor analytics to particular person enterprise wants. Nevertheless, this obvious flaw ushers in a brand new period of effectivity.
GA4 allows entrepreneurs and analysts to concentrate on probably the most crucial metrics and outcomes by simplifying occasion monitoring. It forces us to reevaluate our monitoring necessities and prioritize the metrics that really matter, resulting in extra concise and actionable insights.
The lowered customization choices promote a extra standardized strategy to analytics, facilitating benchmarking and industry-wide comparisons.
Regardless of critics’ claims of a discount in customization, GA4 does provide larger ranges of customization to the UI.
You may (utilizing the library characteristic) fully customise the person interface and add any variety of customized stories and report sections.
With slightly effort, the whole UI will be personalized to your enterprise wants.
By doing so, generally required stories change into simply accessible.
Stories that had been by no means used will be faraway from the UI.
The result’s sooner entry to information yielding larger productiveness.
5. Privateness issues and consent administration
With the rising emphasis on person privateness, GA4’s stricter information assortment and consent administration mechanisms have drawn criticism. Critics argue that the improved privateness measures restrict the provision of knowledge for evaluation and hinder entrepreneurs’ capacity to grasp their viewers totally.
Nevertheless, this perceived flaw is essential to constructing belief and transparency. By embracing privacy-centric practices, companies can strengthen their relationships with customers and set up themselves as moral information stewards.
As a part of the migration to GA4, web site and app privateness insurance policies should be reviewed. For websites which have enabled Google alerts as a part of the “Reporting Id” and function below the authorized facets of GDRP, this overview is crucial.
Embrace modifications in your measurement strategy
When you get previous the preliminary shock of the brand new interface and perceive why the highest 5 complaints about it are literally optimistic enhancements, you’ll seemingly start to understand GA4.
Whereas objects are lacking from the usual options, there’s hope that Google will add these again in a future launch. (The annotation device and talent to avoid wasting predefined segments from normal stories are missed by customers.)
Though many entrepreneurs broadly think about the rollout of the GA4 improve as “one of many worst ever,” it brings enhancements that can seemingly be embraced by most customers inside a couple of months.
Opinions expressed on this article are these of the visitor writer and never essentially Search Engine Land. Workers authors are listed right here.
