What to expect when Google Universal Analytics stops on July 1st 

It was announced over a year ago and the clever marketers ran both Universal and a new GA4 account side by side and now have a year’s worth of data to analyse and compare. Some users have stuck their heads in the sand and blissfully continued with their property’s created on Universal.  

What happens if you don’t upgrade to a GA4 account?

• You’ll lose access to your data, and it could affect your website performance and possibly page rank. Google have confirmed after July 1, 2023, you’ll be able to access your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months. We strongly encourage you to export your historical reports during this time if you haven’t done so. 

• Google recommend you manually migrate your Universal Analytics settings to GA4. If you do nothing, a new GA4 property will automatically be created for you, and your Universal Analytics configurations will be copied to the new GA4 property. Not all UA configurations have an obvious GA4 counterpart, and the automated process might not make the same choices as you would.  

• If you have created a GA4 property, it’s a good idea to check you have connected  that property to your old Universal property. Google will copy over any configurations (e.g., goals, audiences, etc.) from your Universal Analytics property that you have not marked as complete in your GA4 property, unless you opt out.  

Will this change affect my Google Ads campaign? 

If your Universal Analytics property and Google Ads accounts are linked, Universal Analytics data will stop flowing to Google Ads after July 1, 2023.  

You will not be able to import UA site metrics and this will affect your campaigns if you’re using a UA audience. Thankfully there is a lot of information on support.google.com/ as you may need help to migrate your property. 

GA4 has taken a while to settle in and there are a lot of changes to wrap your head around. If you have been familiar with GA Universal, then switching over can be time consuming to get it running smoothly. The clock is ticking though and will wait for no website!  

If we can assist you with your migration, do please get in touch with Sixtwo.