GA-4 to Take Over, Universal Analytics to Sunset July 2023

Danielle Leitch - March 17, 2022

As many of you know, Google has been working to build out the infrastructure for a new version of Google Analytics (known as Google Analytics 4 or GA4). This will be a replacement of the current version of Google Analytics most of you use (called Universal Analytics).

Today, Google Announced a timeline for the deprecation of the current version of Google Analytics that everyone uses. This is the first concrete timeline they’ve provided and is much sooner than had been indicated by Google up to this point. Google’s announcement today states that:

“All standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2023. Given the new Analytics 360 experience was recently introduced, Universal Analytics 360 properties will receive an additional three months of new hit processing, ending on October 1, 2023.”

What This Means

This means:

1. A full transition from Universal Analytics to GA4 (including deployment, configuration, testing, and usage) needs to be completed by July 1, 2023, if you are using the free version, and October 1, 2023, if you are using 360.
2. Universal Analytics will not collect NEW data after July 1, 2023, if you are using the free version, and October 1, 2023, if you are using 360.
3. Universal Analytics properties (the interface) can still be used for historical analysis for at least 6 months after data stops being processed. That means you won’t be able to access your data in the Universal Analytics interface starting as soon as January 1, 2024, if you are using the free version and April 1, 2024, if you are using 360.

What You Should Plan to Do / Begin to Prepare For

There are several things you can begin to plan for and/or put in motion:

1. Launch a new GA4 property, remembering GA4 is different than what you are likely used to.
2. Create a measurement strategy and configure your GA4 property to collect the data determined by that strategy.
3. Assess and plan updates to your reporting needs (such as updates to Data Studio reports that currently rely on Universal Analytics data).
4. Provide training on GA4 for team members that use Google Analytics.
5. Create a plan for exporting and saving your historical Universal Analytics data.

For those currently engaged in a Digital Analytics consulting program with MoreVisibility, we will discuss your next steps and our timing around the above outlined planning phase. If you are not, then please reach out to our team for assistance or your Client Strategist so we can discuss consulting and support options.