What Are The Differences Between Google Universal Analytics and GA4?

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In the realm of digital analytics, Google Analytics (GA) has long been a cornerstone for businesses to gain valuable insights into their online presence. However, with the introduction of GA4, a new iteration of Google Analytics, marketers and analysts find themselves faced with a significant shift in the landscape. In this blog, we will delve into the key differences between GA4 and its predecessor, Universal Analytics (UA), shedding light on the benefits and challenges of GA4.

Google UA vs GA4 Data Collection Model

One of the fundamental differences between GA4 and UA lies in their data collection models. UA operates on a pageview-based model, where each interaction triggers a new pageview, making it easier to track and analyze website behavior. In contrast, GA4 utilizes an event-based model, focusing on user interactions and events across different platforms and devices. This shift allows for a more holistic view of user behavior beyond traditional website visits, enabling businesses to track app usage, video engagement, and more.

Google UA vs GA4 Enhanced Cross-Platform Tracking

GA4 places a strong emphasis on cross-platform tracking, enabling businesses to gain deeper insights into user journeys across multiple devices and channels. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and advanced modeling techniques, GA4 provides a more comprehensive understanding of how users engage with a brand across touchpoints. This feature is especially valuable in today's multi-device and multi-channel world, where customers often interact with brands through various avenues.

Google UA vs GA4 User-Centric Approach

Another significant departure from UA is the user-centric approach adopted by GA4. UA primarily focuses on sessions and cookies to track user behavior, making it difficult to follow individual users across multiple devices or over extended periods. GA4, on the other hand, introduces the concept of the "User ID," which allows businesses to stitch together user interactions and activities across devices, ultimately providing a more accurate representation of individual user behavior. This enhanced user-centric perspective helps businesses better understand customer journeys and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly.

Google UA vs GA4 Machine Learning Capabilities

GA4 integrates machine learning and artificial intelligence more extensively than its predecessor. By leveraging these technologies, GA4 offers enhanced predictive insights, smarter analytics, and automated features. For instance, GA4's predictive metrics can estimate potential revenue and churn rates, empowering businesses to make data-driven decisions. The inclusion of machine learning also facilitates the automatic categorization of events, simplifying the analysis process and reducing manual effort.

Google UA vs GA4 Report Structure and Analysis

The reporting interface in GA4 differs significantly from UA. It now includes a robust set of analysis tools, such as the ability to segment users based on various parameters and build custom funnels, which can help uncover valuable insights and optimize marketing strategies. This reporting feature is very beneficial to making changes to strategy. This will help you make custom reports. 

The benefits offered by GA4 make it a worthy investment for businesses seeking to leverage advanced analytics and gain a competitive edge in the digital landscape. GCommerce has created a custom GA4 report, utilized to highlight the most important metrics to your property. 

As digital analytics continues to evolve, the transition from Universal Analytics to GA4 represents a significant leap forward. GA4's event-based data collection, cross-platform tracking, user-centric approach, machine learning capabilities, and flexible reporting interface provide businesses with a more comprehensive understanding of their customers and insights to drive growth. 

For a deeper comparison of metrics, check out this full breakdown by Google, or let the GA4 experts at GCommerce Solutions help. 

Everything You Need to Know About Google Analytics 4

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By now, many of you have heard us talk about Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This new analytics update is part of a series of steps that will bridge the divide between database driven analytics and privacy concerns. The GCommerce team has been implementing GA4 for our clients over the past year and now Google has officially announced that the existing Google Universal technology will no longer receive new data as of July 2023, the clock is truly ticking.

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The Cookieless World is already here. Are you ready?

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Over the last few years, the big players like Google and Facebook have been warning that they will be moving to a cookieless world. And really, we are already living in a cookieless world when you consider the deprecation of 3rd party cookies on Mozilla and Safari as well as Apple’s iOS updates.

The way we measure performance has already changed to support the cookieless world. GCommerce has tested the difference between Google Analytics 4 and Google Analytics Universal in how it captures data, and on average Google Analytics Universal is missing about 40% of revenue data. This shows that the cookieless world is already here.

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Future Proof Your Hotel Marketing Analytics

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As you may have noticed, there has been a lot of chatter about the “cookieless world” or “3rd party cookies” over the past year-and-a-half and there should be as that wave has already hit us and will soon be by us. If you have not created a plan yet for the “cookieless world” then you need to call a lifeguard ASAP!  One wave that nobody in the hospitality industry is talking about is Google Analytics 4 or “GA4”.  Well, there is talk about it but it seems to be coming from GCommerce, which is quite frightening as most every other vertical market is and has been talking about GA4 since it was announced in 2020 by Google. 

If you did not know, Google Analytics, the most widely used analytics technology, is designed to use 3rd party cookies to track user behavior and transactions. With 3rd party cookies eliminated, analytics data has become unreliable and incomplete. In fact, in a side by side comparison that GCommerce conducted over the past six months with a collection of its customers, Universal Analytics under-reported transaction data (purchases & revenue) by up to 40%! A 40% reduction in revenue through major channels significantly skews what channels are producing. It’s a marketer’s nightmare.  Just so we are all on the same page, most websites today run “GA3” otherwise known as “Universal Analytics or UA”.

In late 2020, Google introduced a new analytics package “Google Analytics 4” or “GA4”. GA4 works regardless of cookies and boosts analytics reliability and useability during this time of transition. GA4 is a brand new tool, aimed at providing a more comprehensive view of your website’s data. As mentioned above, our side by side comparison not only saw under-reporting with transaction data, it also showed that UA underreported Organic by 33%, Paid Search by 26%, and Referral by as much as 51% when compared to the attribution of GA4!  This could be for a couple of reasons:  

  • Legacy cookie tracking (UA) is starting to deprecate as the cookieless world grows closer, creating data gaps for major revenue channels
  • Advanced attribution models based on the new “engaged users” provides more transparency through the booking funnel

Now, you are probably wondering what is the benefit of adding GA4 instead of waiting until Google stops supporting UA?  Well, here are some things to think about when thinking about adding GA4 now instead of waiting.

Benefits of adding GA4 today:

  • Future proof your analytics, regardless of cookies
  • Maintain clean analytics data for your digital marketing initiatives
  • See your booking engine conversion funnel through custom tagging
  • The data captured today in GA4 starts today.  You are not able to collect past history. 
  • Be able to track booking patterns on your site via GA4’s “tagging” ability

If you are interested in learning more about GA4 and the benefits that GCommerce’s customers have seen by adding GA4 please let us know.  We can also let you know about the exclusive Historic Hotels of America GA4 package GCommerce has created. 

Here are a few FAQ's about GA4:

Google said 3rd party cookies aren't going away until 2023. Do I need to get started now?

  • Yes. Particularly with Google Analytics, it doesn't start capturing data until you install it on your site. While you will still have historical data in your Universal Analytics profile, you will essentially be starting from scratch if you wait until 2023 (not to mention you will be operating off of incomplete data for the next year).

Google Analytics is free, why should I pay for my data? 

  • Google Analytics 4 is a new tool that requires custom installation on your website. The custom installation will help you understand how current and future guests interact with your website. 

Do you hold our data? 

  • Yes, but your data will always be found in your native GA4 account. 

What if I build a new website? Should I install Google Analytics 4 at that time? 

  • You should install Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible. You could be missing out on key data and the most up to date attribution models which could empower design and creative decisions for future websites.  

Why should I pay for your GCommerce Google Analytics 4 Report? 

  • As a data driven marketing firm, we believe the raw metrics from GA only tell half the story. Our report was created with decades of experience within analytics and highlight the most important data that informs your marketing strategy. GCommerce’s Google Analytics 4 Report captures more intelligence than traditional GA reports. 

How long is the installation process? 

  • Our typical installation and QA process takes two to three weeks. 

Is there a separate agreement for GCommerce’s Google Analytics 4 Report? 

  • Yes. GCommerce has prepared a simple agreement for execution. 

Can you amortize the setup fee? 

  • Yes. The integration fee can be split up into equal payments in addition to the monthly fee over 12 months. 

Why can’t I see historical data within my GA4 account?

  • Google Analytics 4 commences tracking once the account is created and scripts are integrated on your website.

Does the GCommerce GA4 Report include booking engine production?

  • Absolutely. GCommerce is experienced in retrieving booking engine data, including transactions, room nights, room products, and revenue within most commonly used CRS platforms. 

What access do I need to get started? 

  • To integrate Google Analytics 4 on your website, GCommerce will need account level access to your existing Google Analytics account, access to your Google Tag Manager profile, and CMS access to your website. Access to your booking engine is also needed for any transactional data. 

Google Analytics 4 vs. The Cookieless World | Google Analytics Update

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Cookies or Cookieless. There’s been a lot of buzz among marketers about the timing of the Google Analytics 4 roll out. A few weeks back, Google made the announcement they were prolonging the timeline for their privacy sandbox push as publishers, browsers, advertisers and other 3rd parties were clamoring to roll out the approved version of tracking in the cookieless world.  

This announcement doesn’t apply to Google Analytics and their rollout of GA4. Google knows that while 3rd parties begin to develop cookieless technologies, its analytics platform must be the foundation for measurement.  

Their push for Google Analytics 4 adoption is obvious. With nearly half of all the websites across the web running analytics, Google is pushing GA4 right inside their account creation. Here is a screenshot of the set-up process which highlights Google’s emphasis on GA4. (You’ll see “Google Analytics 4” highlighted)

If you’re a current Google Analytics user, it’s important to upgrade to the latest version. GCommerce has been running both GA3/GUA alongside GA4 to understand the difference in data and measurement. For the month of June, we saw significant decreases in revenue within our GA3 profiles. 

Our tests have shown that Google UA underreports Organic by 33%, Paid Search by 26%, and Referral by as much as 51% when compared to the attribution of GA4. This could be for a couple reasons:

  • Legacy cookie tracking (GA3/GUA) is starting to deprecate as the cookieless world grows closer, creating data gaps for major revenue channels
  • Advanced attribution models based on the new “engaged users” provides more transparency through the booking funnel

You want to have the latest analytics technology available for measurement, and that means upgrading to Google Analytics 4. GA4 will work with legacy cookie technologies along with new best practices as we move towards the cookieless world. There’s no reason to wait. Contact the experts at GCommerce today.

How To Avoid Costly Website Performance Issues Within Google Tag Manager

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What Is Google Tag Manager?

Tag managers have become increasingly commonplace on modern websites for many reasons. They provide ease of access for placing scripts and light applications onto websites, without having to lean heavily on a developer and allow these additions to be placed without interrupting the website’s base functionality.  As time has passed however, some concerns have arisen about using tag managers, such as Google Tag Manager, one of which is overcrowding.

Website Performance Contributors

Your website is set up with a number of assets (Pictures, Videos, Graphics, Apps etc) that all contribute to the load time and overall site performance.  Other factors might include your site host service, outdated code/low functioning coding, or the number of people accessing your site at the same time without adequate scaling.  Most of these issues are within your control to manage and can be handled by your development team.

Tag Managers Effect on Website Performance

Typically, a tag manager such as Google Tag Manager will not affect site performance that much.  With well regulated use, a typical tag manager will serve a limited number of marketing and analytics tags and some of these tags can be loaded after the website pages have already loaded completely. A well regulated Google tag management container should have a minimal to unnotiable effect on website performance.  When a tag manager is mismanaged it can present a number of problems that will have a varying degree of impact on the websites performance and the operation of the tag management container itself.

When Tag Managers Are the Problem

Too Many Tags

How many tags is too many tags to have within your Google tag manager?  If a tag manager has ten to twenty basic marketing tags, that amount of additional script will indeed add an additional load to the website’s performance.  If all ten to twenty tags are loading inline with the rest of the website, it might see a difference of a few hundred nanoseconds, so unless the website sees a few hundred thousand users per hour or each of these tags has a thousand lines of code, the website’s speed is in no danger of being reduced to a crawl. However if a tag manager container has been accumulating tags over the years, maybe from trying out different publishers or asset integrations and now has 300 or more tags inside, it’s very possible that your tag management container is impeding your website performance to a more noticeable level.

There are very few reasons why any tag management container would need to have tags numbering in the multiple hundreds on any individual site or even multiple websites sharing the same tag manager container.  In addition to flirting with website performance issues, letting a container fill up to the point where there are that many tags, will make it somewhat difficult to manage.  Think of it like acculating items in your office over the span of multiple years of service.  Eventually figuring out what does what and goes where becomes a sizable task in itself and that’s before you consider what you want to remove. A better way to handle your tag management container, and avoid costly website performance issues, is to progressively update and evaluate your tag manager container’s status in regular intervals.

Multiple Tag Manager Containers Running On One Website

Implementing a tag management container, such as Google tag manager, is a relatively easy process in most cases. That ease of implementation can spawn another issue with multiple tag manager containers being placed on a website adversely.  Running multiple tag management containers is not always a bad thing. Leveraging two or more containers where both are monitored and their use is openly discussed can work with great efficiency.  On the other hand, it’s very possible to lose sight of multiple tag manager container operations as well.  A prime example of this is one tag manager container is used for years but the administrator in charge of said tag manager container is the sole owner and has now separated from the organization.  Now nobody knows what is inside of the tag management container or how to get inside of it. Without support from the tag manager container product developer, that container is now essentially a ghost ship ‘dead’ on the site. 

All too often, the website owner will simply install a new tag manager and continue to  operate with two containers installed, not giving it a second thought. A potential nightmare scenario has now been created. The website now potentially has multiple scripts running on that can no longer be verified, and there is an unsecure access point to the site where someone might be able to make major modifications to it or potentially add some form of malware. It may be a little bit of a process, but whatever can be done to recreate the useful instruments from the ‘dead’ tag manager container in the newly created container, and then the ‘dead’ container should be removed as soon as possible.

Conclusion 

Tag Management container ownership at first glance is a relatively simple concept, but it has lasting implications and consequences to website operations.  Maintaining a well organized and well run tag manager container overtime should be a process similar to housekeeping. Too many tags accumulating and running unchecked in a container without proper oversight, can be a hindrance to website performance and leveraging the container with proficiency.  Similarly, operating more than one tag management container on a site, where full utilization transparency does not exist, can present as many if not more problems as a single unkempt container.  It is in the best interest of website owners/administrators who have opted to use tagging containers to adopt or create rules and policy around their placement and long term use. 

Have questions about how to use Google tag manager properly to avoid website performance issues? Reach out to the tag management experts at GCommerce today.

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