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As of June 30th, 2023, Google Analytics (GA) and Universal Analytics (UA), the web analytics tools used by 95% of marketers globally, will end data collection. The replacement? Google Analytics 4 (GA4). To get you up to speed quickly on the differences between GA/UA versus GA4 we've highlighted five key features to know about. And with Media Studio now available as part of this latest version - let's take a look at what advantages it can bring!
Cross Platform for both WEB and APP
In comparison to the traditional version of GA, it was usually necessary to create a new Firebase account in order to access data on Apps; however, with the introduction of GA4 this process is much simpler. Now all you need to do is select your App's SDK within "Data Streaming" settings and you can easily view its associated data with minimal effort.
Identify Unique User Across Platforms
By 2024, cookies will no longer be used in web analytics. In its place, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and User-ID combined with Google Signal have been introduced as a way to track users who are logged in or not; the latter also allows for ads to be tracked and resold across devices. GA4 leverages both of these technologies together to compare data across various browsers and devices belonging to individual users.
Events Tracking
GA4 has revolutionized user tracking, now providing event-based monitoring that more accurately captures valuable customer behavior. Previously with Google Analytics (GA), you'd have to manually enter the Google Tag Manager to ascertain metrics like "percentage of articles readers have viewed" or "products customers have searched". Fortunately, the new GA4 not only comes preloaded with seven types of events - such as page view and view search results - it also offers prescriptive guidance based on collected data in its 'Settings' & 'Target' tab. This makes targeting your ad campaigns far easier by allowing you estimate potential customers over the next 7 days!
Customized Reporting
With GA4, the "Explore" page offers customizable report templates to provide valuable insights for a range of industries and businesses. For instance, if you're looking to investigate consumer usage histories or study churn rates by ranking events, then look no further than "Path Exploration". Alternatively, should your focus be on scrutinizing traffic from different sources in order to locate the most lucrative source - turn your attention towards "User Lifecycle." Additionally, with GA4's Explore tab you can uncover even more analytics and applicable reports while setting custom indicators that are tailored specifically to various sectors.
Integration with Google BigQuery
For larger companies, GA4's most compelling advantage is its free connection with BigQuery, Google's cloud-based BI system that not only stores data but performs colossal computations and analysis. It's earned a reputation as the "most influential data tool" in the industry.
With these five advantages of GA4 in mind, don't you look forward to the imminent upgrade? Actually, the only reason you need to upgrade is this: Universal Analytics will be discontinued in June 2023. Don't let your website's data suffer - migrate soon and avoid losing all the crucial browsing information you need!
Google Analytics(GA) 或 Google Universal Analytics (UA) 係全球95%行銷人正在使用嘅網站分析工具，而通用版GA/UA將會喺2023年6月30日起全面停收資料，並且於年底前關閉後台。由新版Google Analytics 4 (GA4)接力上場。我哋整理咗GA/UA v.s. GA4 嘅五大差異，而家就同Media Studio一齊睇睇 GA4 嘅功能啦！
WEB/APP 打破平台限制，一次掌握各平台用戶行為
過往通用版GA專注搜集，往往需要另外新增Firebase帳號查閱App嘅數據；而家GA4只要喺「資料串流」設定當中揀選指定App嘅Firebase SDK，就能夠直接查閱數據。
跨裝置識別Unique User，精簡預算
不單只跨平台資料搜集，GA4亦可以跨裝置追蹤。Cookies 將會喺2024年退場，取而代之嘅係GA4以User-ID同Google Signal去應對，User-ID能夠追蹤已登入嘅使用者，而開啟Google Signal後更加可以追蹤未登入嘅使用者，跨裝置追蹤並再行銷廣告。GA4透過User ID結合Google signal，去分析對比跨裝置與唔同瀏覽器嘅同一使用者。
預設預測事件，分析各類情況
GA4追蹤基準由工作階段(Session)轉成以事件(Event)為主，更精準地掌握真實、高價值嘅用戶行為。過去通用GA並無預設嘅追蹤事件，如果想知道「讀者已瀏覽嘅文章比例」、「顧客搜尋過嘅產品」等行為均需要進入Google Tag Manager (GTM) 手動設定；而新版GA4 有加強版事件評估嘅網頁瀏覽(page view) 、站內搜尋(view search results) 等七大類型事件，無需額外手動設定。更吸引嘅地方係，系統收集到指定額度數據後即可以喺「設定」>「目標對象」頁面中查閱GA4提供嘅預測建議，以後就無需要費煞思量，而係直接針對「預估未來7日內潛在客戶」投放廣告，而且仲可以串連Google Ads，喺GA4廣告設定上面直接揀選上述嘅受眾，設定無難度！
客製化產業報表，取得實用洞察
攞到有用嘅數據，點先可以轉換成有用嘅洞察，實際幫助行銷規劃？GA4能夠喺「探索」頁面中提供客製化報表範本，因應唔同產業、商務需求獲得實用洞察。例如，分析消費者使用歷程，針對事件排序，檢視階段流失率，或是比較消費路徑嘅轉單成效，就可以睇「路徑探索」；而想分析唔同來源媒介嘅流量質素，搵出含金量最高嘅來源管道，就可以睇「使用者生命週期」。除咗上述兩個情境，在GA4中仲可以利用「探索」，搵出更多分析面、更合適嘅報表；亦可以針對產業設定客製指標、報表呈現方式。
免費連結Google BigQuery，存放龐大數據
面對即將到臨嘅「無餅乾時代」，第一方數據成為關鍵！GA4第一方數據最大賣點，就係可以免費串連BigQuery 永久儲存資料。BigQuery係Google 雲端商業智慧(BI)系統，不單提供雲端資料存入，更支援大規模數據運算同分析，係業界中嘅「最強資料分析工具」。
GA4 搜集數據、BigQuery比對、識別單一用戶，幫助完整了解消費者樣貌、有效運用數據應用能力；BigQuery更加可以搭載多種AI運算模型，串連Google Ads等工具運用第一方數據。睇完以上五大GA4嘅優勢，係咪令你更期待GA4升級呢？就等我哋一齊迎接更進步嘅行銷工具啦！
Ex Silicon Valley full-stack developer. Web designer, SEO expert, and co-founder of Media Studio Hong Kong.
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