Universal Analytics will be shut down on July 1, 2023

May 14, 2022

Universal Analytics (UA) Free and Premium (360) versions will be retired on July 1, 2023. From this day no more hits will be transmitted and saved.

After that, Google guarantees access to the data until the end of the year. Google intends to publish in the coming months when users will no longer be able to access the existing properties.

This announcement comes as no surprise. Universal Analytics has now been in use for over nine years, still uses cookies for tracking and the successor to the tracking tool, Google Analytics 4, was released in autumn 2020.

Summarized

New data will no longer flow into existing Universal Analytics properties from 07/01/2023 (10/01/2023 for 360). However, the data can initially be called up for six or three months
After six or three months, the historical data can no longer be called up
Universal Analytics data cannot be transferred to GA4

How do I have to act as a website operator?

If you are already using Google Analytics 4, you should focus on the setup and compare the data with your UA property. Make sure GA4 captures all the data you are currently submitting to your UA.

It should be noted here that all manually created events (e.g. via the Google Tag Manager) must be revised.

Google Analytics 4 is difficult to read and evaluate without a specially created dashboard. Use the time until Universal Analytics is switched off to develop the relevant know-how.

No GA4 in use yet

Since the data from Universal Analytics cannot be transferred to GA4, the tool should be integrated into the website as soon as possible.

Google has published a detailed guide for switching and getting started in a small step-by-step guide: First steps with the new Google Analytics

These advantages speak for a short-term switch to GA4

Data protection is taken more seriously. Among other things, IP addresses are no longer recorded in the standard – with the same data quality
Data is collected without cookies and is therefore more future-proof in terms of browser restrictions.
There are much better ad hoc analysis possibilities in GA4 without having to access external tools.
With larger data volumes, there is also the possibility of using machine learning algorithms

Google Universal Analytics will be deactivated – Our recommendation

Prepare quickly but organized for the switch to Google Analytics 4.
In the case of cross-year analyses, create the new GA4 property as early as possible and have it filled with rudimentary data.
When implementing new data layers, keep the switch in mind and align the layers accordingly
Gradually convert all connections that were previously linked to Universal Analytics (Google Ads, Seach Console, Data Studio, testing with Optimize, Measurement Protocol, Data Uploads, …) etc. to GA4.
Learn how to use GA4. Not only the data collection + provision, but also the look & feel are completely different in GA4
If specific data from the old property is required: download data from Universal Analytics to Excel, data warehouse, databases