why should GA4 be replaced with Google Analytics?

It is important to note that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is not intended to take the place of Google Analytics Universal (GAU), but rather to represent an advancement of the platform. The most recent version of Google Analytics is known as GA4, and it was released by the company in October of 2020. In comparison to GAU, it is intended to give capabilities for tracking and analysis that are both more advanced and more thorough.

GA4 is a development of GAU, and Google launched it for a number of reasons, including the following:

Enhanced User-Centric Approach: Google Analytics version 4 (GA4) places a greater emphasis on taking a user-centric approach, which enables organisations to obtain insights into the whole of the customer journey across a variety of devices and platforms, such as websites, mobile applications, and offline interactions. This enables companies to better understand how people engage with their digital assets and to make choices based on the data they collect as a result.

Capabilities for Advanced Machine Learning GA4 has capabilities for advanced machine learning, which make it possible to conduct automated insights and predictive analytics. Because of this, organisations are able to discover patterns and trends in their data that may not be visible using standard analytics approaches. This, in turn, leads to optimisation tactics that are more successful.

Privacy-Centric Features: GA4 offers built-in privacy-centric features, such as data restrictions and automatic data deletion, to comply with developing data privacy standards, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). These rules include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Cross-Platform Tracking: GA4 enables companies to monitor user interactions across numerous platforms, such as the web, mobile applications, and offline encounters. This gives organisations a more comprehensive picture of user behaviour and engagement across a variety of touchpoints.

Future-Proofing: GA4 was supposed to be the future of Google Analytics, and it is anticipated that the platform will get frequent upgrades and enhancements over the course of time. As a consequence of this, Google is aggressively pushing companies to make the switch to GA4 so that they may remain current with the most recent analytics tools.

However, it is essential to keep in mind that GA4 and GAU use different data models and tracking implementations. Because of this, migrating from GAU to GA4 may need making certain changes to the tracking codes and the configuration of the data collecting system. The shift should be properly planned out and carried out by businesses, with consideration given to their unique needs and use cases. In addition, Google has said that it would continue to provide support for GAU far into the foreseeable future. This means that companies may continue to use GAU if they find that it satisfies their requirements.