Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (aka. GA4): The new and default version of Google Analytics.

Universal Analytics (aka. UA): The classic (and now outdated) version of Google Analytics that is familiar to most of us.

Google Analytics has been an incredibly powerful tool for tracking and analyzing website traffic for years.

🚨 IMPORTANT UPDATE: Google has already replaced Universal Analytics with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), there have been some major changes & updates to the Google Analytics platform.

Now let’s dive deep into the technical, strategic, and reporting differences between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics and see why the changes are important for you.

Universal Analytics vs. GA4 - Technical Details

GA4 and UA are almost two different products in terms of data models, infrastructure, capabilities, interface, and user experience.

More User-friendly Interface

Google Analytics 4 has a more user-friendly interface than Universal Analytics, especially for those unfamiliar with Google Analytics.

In UA, the administration panel can be quite discouraging due to the abundance of options. However, GA4 offers a more simplified layout, allowing you to quickly locate the data you need. Moreover, the interface is visually better-designed, providing you with a more enjoyable experience.

Additionally, the GA4 interface is customizable, so you can create an interface with all the necessary data readily available to you.

Different Data Model

In Universal Analytics, all user activity is monitored as a session - which is defined as the amount of time a user spends engaging with your website.

GA4, on the other hand, uses an event-based data model. Events refer to any action that takes place on your websites, such as page views, button clicks, and form submissions.

This approach provides you with more control and options when it comes to your data.

Unlimited Number of Parameters

With GA4, you can track an unlimited number of parameters with events, whereas Universal Analytics allows you to track a maximum of 20 parameters per session.

This can make it difficult to collect all the data you need to get a thorough understanding of your users’ interactions with your website. GA4 lets you include any parameter of your choice, such as custom dimensions, custom metrics, user ID, session ID, and more, providing access to a more comprehensive data set.

Much-improved Customization

Universal Analytics provides some customization options for reports, however, they are relatively restricted. As a result, it can often be necessary for you to use indirect solutions, such as developing custom reports manually or transferring data to Excel or Data Studio for further analysis.

GA4 takes customization to a higher level, though. With GA4, you can easily create custom reports and dashboards that precisely display the data you wish to see. Additionally, GA4 features an in-built report editor, so you don't have to export data to another tool to make further adjustments.

Machine Learning

Metrics and data collection were a key focus in UA, however, the analysis and discovery of insights were left to the user. This resulted in a lot of data going to waste, as many people lacked the time or knowledge to go through it all and uncover the hidden gems.

GA4 leverages the power of machine learning - an AI technology that enables computers to learn from data and make intelligent predictions. It reads your data, detects patterns, and uncovers insights that you might have missed. For instance, if there is a decrease in conversions, GA4 can pinpoint the cause.

Integrations

You can seamlessly connect GA4 to other Google products, like Google Ads, Firebase, and BigQuery, which makes it super-easy for you to share data and take the actions needed.

For instance, if you're running a Google Ads campaign and you'd like to monitor its performance, GA4 allows you to import data from your Ads account into GA4 and generate a report to see how the campaign performs.

Cross-device Reporting

UA offers quite limited cross-device reporting capabilities, whereas GA4 provides a much better cross-device tracking & reporting experience thanks to its data stream approach and event-driven data collection model. With GA4, you can easily monitor multiple devices on a single property with different streams.

Privacy

GA4 has introduced a significant change in regard to user data protection: IP addresses are no longer collected or stored. In UA, you are allowed to see IP addresses if you do not anonymize them manually. GA4 has taken proactive steps and delivered this feature to ensure user data is secure.

Data Retention

GA4 offers flexible data retention options, allowing you to determine how long user-specific data is stored. The default option is two months, but you can extend this up to 14 months if preferred. This does not limit the amount of time you have access to the data, but rather, it means you can keep the user-specific data for 14 months - before it gets deleted automatically.

Easier Segment Comparison

Comparing segments in Universal Analytics can be a difficult task, as you have to manually select and switch between each segment to view the data. GA4 makes it much simpler - you can just add multiple segments to the report and toggle between them with one effortless click.

Different Data Models

The biggest change is done at the core. GA4 is using an event-based data collection method whereas UA is using a hit-based one. Here’s what it means:

In Universal Analytics, there are different hit types such as PageView, Social, Transaction, etc. On the other hand, GA4 is all Events with different names and parameters. This change allows you to have a deep combination between all reports & capabilities.

The event-based data model in GA4 allows for better tracking of user interactions with a website, providing more data to work with when making decisions about how to optimize your websites for conversions.

AI & Machine Learning Powered

GA4 offers intelligent business insights supported by AI & machine learning. Over time, as Google collects more data, you will get to see how valuable these insights are, as they help you make better predictions using predictive metrics and audiences.

More Cross-device Reporting

UA is quite limited with its cross-device reporting. In contrast, GA4 is fully ready for this with its new data streams approach and event-based data collection model. You can easily track multiple devices on a single GA4 property using different streams, and the sessions and reports can be consolidated across devices.

Enhanced Google Signals

GA4 allows you to use Google Signals on a much deeper level. Google shares its own user data with your Analytics property, which helps with cross-device tracking and advanced personalization.

Automated Event Tracking

GA4 automatically tracks events such as user_engagement, session_start, page_view, and first_visit. There is also the Enhanced Measurement feature that tracks file downloads, video engagement, site search, outbound clicks, and scrolls without the need of any additional setup.

There are many other benefits of GA4, and we expect there is, even more, to come in the near future as Google heavily invests in Google Analytics 4.

New Features & Reports of Google Analytics 4

GA4 has many exciting features that didn't even exist in GA360, the paid version of Google Analytics.

It provides you with a broader level of data and customization capabilities. On the other hand, some simple Universal Analytics reports you may be used to - don’t even exist here.

Now, let's have a look at some of the new features & reports of GA4.

Funnels

Funnels are very limited in Universal Analytics, as only a few e-commerce-related funnels work well. Here is an overview of the improvements in GA4:

• In Universal Analytics, you could only use the Page Path and Event Name as funnel steps. GA4 provides you with many more options.

• You can have an open funnel. This type of funnel will count as the users/visitors even if they didn’t specifically follow the funnel path.

• You can add time conditions to each step.

• You can segment the funnel view to different segments.
• You can build audiences from funnel steps that you can later use in Google Ads.

Events & Parameters

Universal Analytics provides a little room for custom events and conversions.

Universal Analytics only offers four parameters for the Events; Event Category, Event Action, Event Label, and Event Value. You need to structure your data around these fields.

You can structure a call-to-action button click this way in UA:

• Event Category: Button Clicks
• Event Action: CTA Button Click
• Event Label: Book a Demo

In GA4, you can get a completely custom approach like this:

• Event Name: button_click
• Button Category: CTA
• Button Label: Book a demo
• Button Page: Homepage
• Button Location: Footer
• Button Style: Shiny Red

As you can see, you can attach more data and also name them as you wish. Then, you can use these dimensions and parameters as needed.

You are also allowed to generate a report like “Button Colors affect the conversion rate”. Here is an example to let you see how we use “button names” in our reports:

Another example will show you event parameters in Purchase event:

Creating Custom Events with no coding

In GA4, you can create a custom event only by using the existing data you have.

In the following example; we are creating a new event from button_clicks by using the button name parameter. The new event will only include button clicks to “Button Primary”.

Later, it's possible to mark this new event as a conversion.

Conversions & Goals in GA4

In UA, the goals could be defined for specific events or page views. Google Analytics 4 allows you to set any event or combination of events as conversions.

In the following example, you will see how to mark an event as a conversion. You can also create a custom GA4 event and then mark it as a conversion.

Audiences

Audiences are quite similar to segments. You can define a group of visitors with many conditions. Then, you can view your reports only for this segment, compare the segments, and more importantly you are allowed to target these segments in Google Ads.

In the example below, you will see the “Installed but not Purchased” audience we created for Analyzify. This audience includes the "install" event and excludes the "purchase" event. With GA4, you can create more sophisticated audiences by combining multiple options.