Sunsetting Google Analytics: What to Do Next

Google Analytics (more commonly known as GA) is going away. That’s not new news, but at this point, one big question still hangs in the air: What now - how are you supposed to prep your system for this transition? 

This is a very good question, and it’s one that you need to start addressing so you don’t face a last-minute scramble when things start to change. So, let’s start at the top. There are 3 big dates you need to keep in mind. 

• July 1, 2023: Google Analytics free accounts will stop collecting data 
• July 1, 2024: Google Analytics 360 paid offerings will stop collecting data 
• January 1, 2024: Access to historical data will be cut off for Google Analytics 

With these milestone dates looming, it’s time to come up with a plan for the continuation of your website analytics and to ensure that you don’t lose any important historical data. So, here’s where you should start: 

1. Evaluate your analytics practice: Now is the perfect time to take a detailed look at your analytics strategy and platform. If your processes are slow, there are gaps in your strategy, or your analytics platform isn’t working for you, this is the perfect opportunity to reevaluate and adapt. 
    
   Take the time to identify the critical data you need, the data that is nice-to-have but not necessary, and the data that you’ve been collecting that isn’t actually relevant to your goals. In many cases, working with a partner like Rightpoint (formerly Hoodoo Digital (now Rightpoint) that specializes in implementing Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics can help you narrow down exactly what data you need to achieve your business goals. 
    
   Going through this exercise can also help you identify what important historical data you need to transfer/collect before GA shuts down entirely. 
    
2. Pick your platform: No matter what you do, the sunsetting of GA means that you will be moving to a new analytics platform. Before you go through this effort, it’s best to dig into the capabilities of the platform that you are using and make sure it does what you need it to do. Start looking at whether you need to transition to a paid platform or a different service provider altogether. Carefully consider the capabilities of each platform so that you can pick the one that best aligns with the future goals of your business or analytics practice.   
    
3. Managing customizations: One of the things that can throw a wrench for many accounts is that they have unique customizations to gather specific data in a specific way. These customizations will either need to be translated to the new platform or removed altogether. This is an area where we would definitely recommend working with a professional implementation partner as they will not only be able to help you identify the customizations but transfer them to the new analytics platform. 
    
4. Transfer your data (if you can): Here’s where we have a bit of bad news. There is no clear way to transfer historical data from free GA accounts to GA4 (at least not yet). This doesn’t mean you have to throw it out altogether, if you choose to transition your analytics platform to Adobe Analytics, the data can be easily transferred. Otherwise, you can store your historical data locally and manually compare it to the new data you collect from GA4 when appropriate. 
    
   One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to bring all your historical data. You should only pull the data that is necessary and relevant, and you shouldn’t pull anything that is over 2 years old. 
    
5. Remove the old code from your website: Finally, once you’ve made the full transition to the new platform, you will want to remove the code for GA from your website. While this isn’t something you need to do immediately, you should make a plan to delete it from your code. 

The sunsetting of Google Analytics/Google Analytics 360 has left many businesses feeling a little adrift as to what their next steps should be. But don’t worry, navigating this isn’t something you have to do alone. There are plenty of resources online, Google has also put together some information to help simplify the transition, and if you have any questions that you can’t find answers to, reach out. Our team of Adobe Analytics specialists can help get you the answers you need about both platforms.