When Should Brands Switch to GA4?

One of the most common questions we’ve been getting from both clients and prospects is when they should implement GA4. We’ve put together a handy guide covering the transition with dates on when brands need to act.

When should our brand implement GA4?

Today. Google Analytics 4 becomes the standard analytics version on July 1, 2023. If your brand wants year over year data available for reporting, you need to implement before July 1, 2022 so that you can begin collecting and adjusting reporting and metrics.

Why should our brand switch to GA4?

The current universal analytics (UA) implementation will be deprecated on July 1, 2023 and will no longer collect data. You will have access to all of your previous UA data but if you don’t implement soon, you’ll have gaps in GA4 and have to stitch together UA and GA4 data which are not fully compatible.

What’s the main difference between Universal Analytics and GA4?

The biggest difference is that you’ll get a higher level of data accuracy in GA4 because they no longer use sampling when comparing large datasets. Large eCommerce and heavily trafficked sites often lack full data fidelity because UA will only show an approximation of data (sampling) when looking at 60-90+ day windows.

GA4 also can automatically map on-page events making it easier to track button clicks, interactions, input fills for large sites whereas previously all of this implementation had to be done by hand.

The other differences are metric improvements (removing bounce rates in favor of engagement rates) and a reorganization of metrics and segments. If you have dashboards built with UA data in DataStudio or other visualization programs, these will likely have to be rebuilt.