Google Analytics 4 Is Almost Here—It's Time to Test and Prepare

The landscape of digital marketing is always changing, and recent years have seen a focus on consumer privacy and protection of public information, set on third-party cookies. Major tech companies have largely flouted the writing on the wall, and it took legislation like the GDPR and CCPA to force meaningful change. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is set to replace Universal Analytics, and the next nine months will be critical for marketers to prepare.

The real benefit of GA4 is its ability to use machine-learning to fill in those gaps in the data caused by opted-out users, while also staying above board with user privacy and data regulations. To transition operations away from Universal Analytics, marketers should dedicate time to understanding the platform, audit current UA metrics, institute dual tracking, and connect CDPs to make data actionable.

The nine-month runway provides enough time to test, assess, and execute on core business decisions, and may require bringing in a partner with platform expertise. Now is the time for marketers to get started and familiarize themselves with GA4 so they can hit the ground running when it becomes the default in July 2023.