GA4 (Google Analytics 4) Issues for people like us?

I'm surprised others haven't mentioned these issues with GA4

[OldFaces]

Hey all -

Perhaps this post should be in 'Website Analytics - Tracking and Logging' but I'm afraid if I post there it would be overlooked. Also, since detailed 'real-time' analysis is necessary for folks like us, I thought it might be okay to share here?

I know changing analytics is always a bit of a challenge - remember urchin? :c) I've just started playing with GA4 and see a few concerns that I'm surprised I can't find others discuss. Full Disclosure: I'm only a handful of hours into GA4 so maybe it's truly just my ignorance about this new product and I'll look back in a week and grimace at my own post. :c)

1.) Real time shows "Views by Page title and screen name" and not "URL" by default. Are Page Titles really more valuable than URLs for most?

2.) Custom Reports / Explorations don't allow for 'today', and only begin 'yesterday' backwards. I have custom reports that show Google > landing pages (urls) for two primary sections broken down by hour of the day. I also have a custom report that shows affiliate links with the same. Now I can't know performance until the following day? Eh.. these reports are how I can tell when traffic fluctuates immediately (read when algo changes 'hit'). I'd assume most of us use reports that show hour versus hour of previous day last week right?

3.) Custom Reports / Explorations don't allow to copy from the 'row'. So if you set 'Landing page' as a row then you need to manually type into a browser the URL instead of an easy copy/paste.

Anyway, maybe I'm alone and just stumbling in the dark a bit - will continue to invest time to familiarize myself.

[ne0h]

Yes, you are correct. The real time data doesn't show the URL info. For example, the live landing URL and exit URL.

Also, GA4 lacks many features and it has some bugs.

I used in for couple of months, but I have to enable UA until it retires.

GA4 is all about fancy animation, with less features at the moment

[OldFaces]

Is everyone just assuming that Google will fix these necessary issues before they sunset Universal (supposedly) in 10 months? Or, do most of us on here use other analytics software?

[ember]

Granted, I haven't spent much time with GA4, but from what I see it is kind of useless. I don't have an alternative at this point and might just go without any analytics once next summer comes.

[shadowlight]

Matamo

[OldFaces]

I'll say this about GA4. I'm taking the certification course (even starting from the beginning with the basic stuff anyone should know) and gotta say that I'm actually excited to use it. Just like with any code, it provides very simple building blocks (all event based) that you can mix and match to do some really cool stuff.

The problem though that the GA4 devs have, as I see it at least, is that by servicing apps and websites with one tool (GA4) is that they have to default to use certain terminology and metrics. E.g. The default isn't URLs but "Page Titles" because an app doesn't have a URL...

Anyhow, the reason I finally jumped into this now is because we need overlap of data for an extended period of time. I think as more folks start using GA4 (and not just the early adopter fan boys) that the devs will make necessary revisions like the ones I highlighted in my first post.

Shadowlight - thanks for mentioning Matamo. I ran across that last night for the first time and found it particularly interesting. If GA4 doesn't fix the basics we need (e.g. hour versus hour previous day of the week for TODAY) then we'll be forced to use an alternative. That's just a deal breaker on our end to not be able to dive into TODAY's activity.

[RubicCubed]

GA4 worked fine for me, but for the life of me I could not get it to link properly with Google Ads. I therefore had to revert back to UA.

[phranque]

welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com], RubicCubed!

[longjohnbronze]

"Is everyone just assuming that Google will fix these necessary issues before they sunset Universal (supposedly) in 10 months"

Either that or that they decide to extend the lifespan of UA until they do. We run both simultaneously at the moment and looked into how to update our workflows for GA4, but a lot of what we'd do or need seems to be very rough around the edges still.

[OldFaces]

Huh Rubic thanks for heads up! I haven't yet tried to like Google Ads. We are old AdX/DFB since AdMeld days with Google Ad Manager.

LongJohn - EXACTLY our case as well! So right now we are running Universal as our primary and have GA4 just collecting very basic data. We have a sandbox where we are testing event tracking. GA4 is on the back burner for now until, as you said, they fix some of the rough around the edges issues.

The daily activity (being able to generate reports to see data on the same day) is by far the biggest issue we have. We need that insight to understand how the application is operating at any given moment in real time.

[Pjman]

I'm totally resisting moving to GA4. I know it will be a #*$!show to use for years to come.

UGA was awesome 5 years ago, you had a basic question about your audience and 2 minute later you would find the answer.

Then they got more and more engineers to work on it and built the UX in true engineer style and it takes forever to find anything. I find myself having to pray that someone ran into the same problem I did and wrote a post about.

[OldFaces]

hahah I gotcha PJman. I know exactly what you mean...

[OldFaces]

Eh just noticed that GA4 is adding around 200ms average page speed...so while we are collecting data it's costing us :/

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Seriously, GA4 is complete overkill for the average webmaster or blogger and they've had how many years to speed up the code? Too many.

Now a brand new even more complicated version that is even slower is rolling out?

hmmmm

[jpalmer]

Gidday Oldfaces

Yeah, After messing about with GA4 since they first introduced it, I'm still grappling with it.

Can only hope that the programmers are monitoring what poeple are trying to get reports for, and will create updated "shortcuts" ala UA.

1.) Real time shows "Views by Page title and screen name" and not "URL" by default. Are Page Titles really more valuable than URLs for most?

If you want to see urls instead of <title>, in > Engagement reports, just click on the "Page tite and Screen class" column header, and a drop down should appear with the last option being "Page path and screen class".

Click/select that, and TA-DA! Page urls.

You should also be able to create a "save report" shortcut link so you can (almost) instantly refer to it in future. But I almost never remember where to find it, so just end up recreating the url path option in my reports atm.

In getting to grips with GA4, if you're not constantly watching tutorials or reading articles, just poke around and click on a few drop downs to see what the do. (Advisory: Don't forget what the default "report" settings are though.

I saved a few, and then couldn't get back to a preferred default, and ended up nuking all the preferences I'd set up, just to get back the one default report that was useful. It's currently a real dog that way.

There are so many ways to create "event" paths and reports, that it's high level "If this then that" stuff. And if you aren't already familiar with the syntax it's very confusing and frustrating compared to UA.)

Meanwhile, hope my tip helps.
Cheers
JP

[OldFaces]

Hey JP!

Thanks SO much for taking the time to share your knowledge and outline it so well. Much appreciated mate.

To see Page titles works exactly as you say. My problem is that I need Real Time reports to display the URLs and then also allow for me to copy/paste a section of the URL like I can do with Universal.

I definitely have spent a number of hours with tutorials and videos...At this point I still have my 3 big deal breakers (in initial post) that keep me from using GA4 as primary anytime soon.

[Kyle0]

< moved from another location >

Got a reminder from google about moving over to Google Analytics 4 soon.
Had anyone switched to GA4 ?
Is it hard to set up GA4? And how long it takes to set up GA4?

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 6:11 am (utc) on Nov 14, 2022]
[edit reason] moved post to this still-active thread [/edit]

[Robert Charlton]

Kyle0, welcome to WebmasterWorld.... I haven't tried the new GA4, but this thread should give you some idea of recent experiences here. From what I've been reading, the learning curve is not insignificant... but, going forward, it's clear that Google feels the basic changes it has made will be necessary as the web evolves.

This Google Analytics Support migration guide is essential both to current and future readers...

Make the switch to Google Analytics 4
Essential migration steps for Google Analytics 4
[support.google.com...]

Google Analytics 4 is replacing Universal Analytics. On July 1, 2023 all standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits. 360 Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2024. Learn more

If you have a Universal Analytics property, you must migrate. Check if you have a Universal Analytics property. The earlier you migrate, the more historical data and insights you will have in Google Analytics 4.

Start using Google Analytics 4 today to get a complete view of consumer behavior across web and app by using first-party, modeled data. Improved machine learning features, actionable reporting, and new integrations help you adapt to an evolving privacy and technology landscape to keep getting the insights you rely on.

The first article includes a list of key points and also a detailed table of contents for the rest....

IMO, this isn't the kind of program one simply jumps into. I'd suggest giving it a read-through to see what differences are to be expected, as there are a lot of basic changes.

[Pjman]

End of the day GA4 was put in place to make regulators happy and beat cookies removal.

I knew Google was going to get Evil when they went public, but they are starting to make the Death Star look like a vacation spot.

[OldFaces]

Exactly & lol Pjman.

I'm just shocked that Google's core product offerings from Search Result relevancy - the ability to find answers to what you're looking for instead of being directed to what THEY think you're looking for, to ad hosting (multiple outages and missing data from Google Ad Manager in the last 10 months), charging legacy grandfather email accounts for a service that was promised to always be free, to now sunsetting Universal and NOT providing a way to access historical data (no, exports don't cut it) and offering only GA4 which has VERY basic UX and reporting limitations as the substitute.

At least people are starting to talk about GA4's massive shortcomings. Problem is that Google's trimming employees makes it less likely the product will get the resources it needs. But I haven't looked over the departments...hopefully the folks who still work on the products we actually use are still there :P

[Pjman]

@OldFaces

From One old timer to another GA4 is all smoke and mirrors. It is all downhill from here, just like saw when they switched their narrative (SSL for everyone), and data just disappeared.

I feel like this is the perfect time for a Solid Business to come and sweep up the market with a relevant Analytics package for a relative low price, like Flodesk did with email marketing.

Now that I sold and am retired, happy to mentor any entrepreneur that want to be in this David vs. Goliath situation, just DM me.

[OldFaces]

Spent some more time digging into GA4 as I need to decide if we are going to keep using Google Analytics or find a substitute. I am really seriously surprised that there is not more chatter about what a sub-par product this really is.

Yes, GREAT potential....but, come on? Just generate any report (or try to) that you used with Universal. IF you can generate it (again you can't generate for today's data) - just visually compare the two charts. Are you doing a hour versus hour same day last week? Compare between GA4 & Universal - which one looks better? Which one has total tallies that are readable? Which one can you copy/paste the values from?

Really confused...do people really not prepare for 3+ months in the future? :P

[Nutterum]

If you have the cash, you can stay on Google Analytics Premium for one more year. Just a head's up for people who really don't want to migrate.

[FranticFish]

The killer for me is this:

"In the coming months, we'll provide a future date for when existing Universal Analytics properties will no longer be available"
from [support.google.com...]

I've been looking into alternatives and Matomo (Piwik) has an import tool (no idea how good it is and how complete the import) and (so they say) don't want access to your data. Please note this is not a plug for them: I need to do some research, just at the start of looking into things.

I could deal with a learning curve, having to spend hours learning to configure something to do what it's predecessor did out the box, even losing certain features for a certain amount of time. But it's Google's ATTITUDE that has me looking for alternatives.

Google do not care about my continued access to my data (to which they have had unlimited access, and which they may well keep internally for themselves forever).

An outfit that wants absolutely nothing in return is offering to help me access it forever.

Where do I want to put my contribution to a user base?
Which product do I want to help test and refine via my usage?

[not2easy]

There are people on this forum who have been using Matomo since back when it was called Piwik. If you were to visit the Website Analytics [webmasterworld.com] - Tracking and Logging forum you could get ideas and feedback from them.

With Matomo, you own your data, Matomo doesn't. When you are not using a third party tool you don't need all the GDPR type warnings and opt-in messaging, just a privacy policy. I have not heard anything bad about Matomo.

There is a light discussion about it in this thread: [webmasterworld.com...]

[FranticFish]

@ not2easy - thanks. I first heard Piwik being named-dropped here maybe 8-10 years ago I think. I'll definitely check out any resources here.

[CommandDork]

GA4 is terrible compared to the UA version - feels like a tremendous step backwards to me for my needs; so stripped down and useless from the original, especially the real-time reporting aspect of it. MS Clarity helps a little in this regard but it's far from a complete replacement at this point.

[OldFaces]

Getting closer...lol. Spent the last handful of days with dev team trying to make GA4 useful. We're using this as an opportunity to audit everything we currently track, make sure that we are tracking events in a way that is readable and actionable, defining new naming conventions, and setting up reports.

This 24 hour delay thing is seriously bothersome. I see that we can use Big Query to get real-time data which we might have to do just to set this thing up. I mean come on..how in the world are you supposed to test custom events and wait 24 hours every time to get reporting? Let alone the ramifications from a daily operations standpoint. The conspiracy part of me wonders if this is a sly way for Google to get us to use their cloud services and slowly chip away at AWS...

Anyway, just hoping everyone is doing well with this transition either to GA4 or an alternative.

[OldFaces]

And just discovered there is no ability to send automatic emails via GA4. You need to use Big Query or Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio). So many rabbit holes with this transition..

[samwest]

IMHO, G4 is an overly complicated mess. Just when we were comfortable with regular old GA, which was also a mess...they change it all over. I just removed all GA4 tracking and went back to Matomo. "Give the people what they don't want" seems to be the corporate montra these days. YMMV.