Ga4

Anyone using it yet?

[chewy]

Just started to dig into GA4 "upgrade" process.

I also looked for reviews of this revision and all I see is replicates of Google's usual PR.

Has anyone used it - has anyone read an objective review, tips & traps, etc?

Does it actually reveal anything new beyond what we already know - or is this just Google moving the cheese yet again to take away useful features and functionality?

Thanks in advance!

-C

[Himanshu77]

I added GA4 on one of my websites but honestly, I didn't like it. Maybe we will get used to it in the future but for now, I am good with Universal Analytics. The data projection and metrics were a bit confusing for me.

[jpalmer]

Just had to add it to a new third party site (no universal code option available), and having now poked around in it for a few hours, I can safely report that it's a dog (with apologies to man's best friend.)

All of the useful data has been stripped out (or you have to do some convoluted filters, comparisons, audiences, intentions, funnels and cohorts stuff, that only college grad marketing analysis majors would be familiar with knowing how to set up.)

E.G. In Universal; Want to know the referring page urls? Go to > Aquisition >All Traffic >Referrals > click on (site) Source and Voila! > Referral Path showing the full referring page urls and performance stats.

G4? > Aquisition >Traffic aquisition gets you a bunch of pretty graphs with top 5 referrers, and a table with >Session source. AND THAT'S IT.

I've search Google help/support (HA!), other online fora, tried "creating" some "filters", but no joy. But lot's of frustration and some very blue language.

And don't even think about getting any Search console or queries data. That bird has flown.

Google has wrapped this in their usual "better than ever" spin, and decided that we all need to be concerned with site visitor "intent", rather than actual site performance, and old fashioned KPIs like .... did this sm channel campaign or 3rd party link actually provide the referrals that make the spend worth it? (It might be possible somewhere in the aforementioned creation of filters for campaigns and audiences, and slices and dices and such, but they have now broken the "3 clicks" rule, and I couldn't fathom it out.)

So as far as I'm concerned, it's reduced the usefulness of the free product, by just prettying it up for "mobile" devices, and forcing people over to Search Console (meh) and Adwords for for useful keyword and other site performance data that Universal Analytics previously provided.

(Although it does explain why I now get stupid secondary scroll bars inside of Universal reports, when I change the focus for any column results, and have to refresh the page to be able to scroll down the table.)

Can anyone please recommend an alternative to Google Analytics?

[IanTurner]

Well written jpalmer - I would be more kind to dogs though - I'd compare it to what comes out of the dog's backside.

Very difficult use, counter intuitive, finding how to save reports once you have set them up is not obvious.

It's like Google have taken away the basics that you relied on for day to day monitoring and just left the bells and whistles that you'd use from time to time.

[zulu_dude]

I installed it on a client's site yesterday, so very topical topic!

In terms of alternatives, I've played around with Piwik before and was very impressed (this was several years ago)... but clients always seem to gravitate back to Analytics as that's what they know. Perhaps if they all dislike GA4 as much as jpalmer and IanTurner, then platforms like Piwik will see some considerable growth!

P.S. Have just seen Piwik is now Matomo, no idea what that's like!

[jpalmer]

UPDATE: Did yet more research, and found a YouTube channel with oodles of useful tutorials for Google Tag Manager, G Universal,and basics on GA4, including installing Google Univiersal Analytics if you've been forced to the GA4 setup.

Look for "Loves Data" Benjamin Mangold.

I'll be installing UA to compliment GA4 until it's out of "BETA" (!), and I'd definitely recommend to people that they install UA first up, and get all the data they can, before they even think about looking at GA4.

Also, in GA4, no direct connection to Search Console, so double blow for anyone who watches keyword performance. (And let's face it, isn't that the main game, along with aquisition attribution?)

Cheers for now
JP

[jpalmer]

Ian Turner

It's like Google have taken away the basics that you relied on for day to day monitoring and just left the bells and whistles that you'd use from time to time.

Yup. The kids from UI/UX got promoted to data analysis, and decided that we don't need raw data anymore, because we're all cool kids doing all our work on iPads, instead of grumpy old hands on desktops with multiple screens, with 3 browser windows (each with at least 10 tabs open), 3 spreadsheets, and [insert four other apps/programmes here], running, NOT counting any Google apps. <eyeroll>

[IanTurner]

In using it some more the 'kids from UI/UX' need to refresh themselves on accessibility - the old graphs with the solid orange for the previous period line are much clearer than the newer graphs with the dotted line (well certainly for my old eyes anyway).

[jpalmer]

the 'kids from UI/UX' need to refresh themselves on accessibility

Indeed. It's like they think the internet didn't exist before they joined G, and everyone using it is their age.

OT: I had a moment yesterday. Was talking to a young thing in our local politician's office, and casually mentioned our web site went live in 1997. He came back with; "That's the year I was born". (I kid you not!) Starting to feel way too old for this stuff. ;-) sigh ....

Got your jab yet? Keep safe.