We welcome the latest version of Google Analytics!
Google Analytics 4 , Google’s new type of property (yes, there are no views as we are used to) provides, among other things: much more expanded predictive information, deeper integration with Google Ads, more measurement capabilities between devices, and more specific data controls.
The launch is an expansion and renaming of the well-known App + Web property launched last year and marks an important first step in the evolution of Universal Analytics.
We are going to analyse some of its improvements:
- On the one hand, it will provide us with new knowledge and predictions based on artificial intelligence. While knowledge-based machine learning Analytics has been available for some time, new knowledge and predictions that reach Google Analytics 4 can automatically alert the marketers of trends, such as the growing demand for a product. It will also predict results such as churn rates and potential revenue a business could earn from a specific customer segment. All this information can help us anticipate our clients’ actions in the future and thus focus on higher-value audiences.
- Improved integration with Google Ads. Now we can generate and maintain audiences of our users on the web and in the application. For example, if a user is qualified for an audience list due to an action performed on the web and were removed from a list because they made an in-app purchase, the list would automatically update to remove the user and not be impacted with ads. In addition, Google Analytics 4 will report on the actions of the YouTube involved views that occur both in the application and on the web.
- One of the most notable differences between Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics is the organization of the reports based on the customer lifecycle. These reports will help us delve into specific aspects of the customer journey. For example, we can see which channels generate new customers in the user acquisition report and then use the engagement and retention reports to understand the actions these same customers take and whether or not they stay after conversion. The new Analytics experience also aims to offer us a complete view of how customers interact with your business across devices and channels. We can also provide your user ID or enable Google signals to deduplicate users across devices, both in reporting and ad targeting.
- Another benefit is event tracking without code implementation. This makes it easier for us to monitor and measure the important actions on the site, in the App, and in real-time (in Universal Analytics, events usually arrive with some latency). For example, we can measure a scroll event or the playback of a video without adding code or configuring event tracking in GTM.
- We are also going to have a more specific user data control. Analytics 4 also includes options to help advertisers comply with data regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Consent mode is designed for sites that must have end-user consent to collect analytics data, and this new mode provides us with separate consent options for analytics and ads. Data deletion options have also been improved, allowing companies to fulfil user deletion requests without having to delete more data than is necessary. In addition, it includes a preview mode so that companies can verify the data they are about to delete.
- How will it affect our analytics in the future without cookies? Well, as third-party cookies are removed, Google already anticipates that data scarcity will become the new norm. It will rely on machine learning to repopulate data gaps.
In conclusion, the new property of Google Analytics 4 provides a complete cross-channel view of the customer life cycle and uses that information with predictive marketing functions, providing us with more information and more efficient ways to act based on those discoveries.
We recommend that you configure a new property with this new version when you have to configure a new property. The previous one, Universal Analytics, will continue to be available, but we recommend activating GA4 since it will focus on improvements and news within Google and keep both measurements in parallel.
Our team of experts here at Making Science can help you accelerate digitally! Ask for information at info@makingscience.com.
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