What is it?
Google has announced that Universal Analytics, which has existed since 2012, will be sunset.
Universal Analytics will stop processing data from July 1st 2023, and access to all historical data could end as early as January 1st 2024.
Universal Analytics will be replaced by a new version, called Google Analytics 4.
Why is it important?
Historical data cannot be transferred from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. This is because Google Analytics 4 has a new event based data model.
It is critical to configure a Google Analytics 4 property now, and run this in parallel with Universal Analytics.Â
This will allow time to build up historical data in Google Analytics 4, and give your business time to become familiar with the new data structure, reporting capabilities and user interface.
What to do next?
Configure a Google Analytics 4 property before June 30th 2022.Â
This will allow enough historical data to complete year-on-year and trend analysis in Google Analytics 4 from July 2023.
Invest time in becoming familiar with the new data and reporting capabilities, and the updated Google Analytics 4 user interface.
Take steps to extract your most important historical data from Universal Analytics, so you can refer back to this data when Universal Analytics is sunset.
Speak to us if you need help with Google Analytics 4 configuration, Google Analytics 4 training, or exporting historical data from Universal Analytics.
