Google made a big announcement in March 2022 regarding the sunset of Universal Analytics (UA) the old version of Google Analytics. Google announced that it will begin sunsetting Universal Analytics on July 1, 2023.
Its successor, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), launched in late 2020 uses a G- site code and introduces new privacy features, robust reporting, predictive intelligence, and deeper integration with other Google products, such as Google Ads.
“Google Analytics 4 is our next-generation measurement solution, and it’s replacing Universal Analytics. On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits. If you still rely on Universal Analytics, we recommend that you prepare to use Google Analytics 4 going forward.” – Latest Update by Google
What does this mean for you?
If you have a website or app that uses Universal Analytics tags, after July 1st, 2023 (next year!) your UA property will no longer process new HITS, meaning that as of July 2nd, 2023 no new data will flow into your UA account.
In addition to this, Google will retain your historical data in your UA property for only a few months, after which your UA property’s historical data will be deleted permanently.
Why upgrade from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4?
The new GA4 platform is built from scratch and not an upgraded modification, therefore, none of the data in the UA platform can get transferred to GA4. Also, the UA platform will stop recording data on 1 July 2023; the sooner you migrate to GA4 the more historical data you will have in the Google Analytics platform.
What’s the difference between UA and GA4?
Google Analytics 4 is not only designed to offer additional features of Universal Analytics but also built to align with current and future reporting and privacy needs. Here are some of the differences and benefits.
What makes Google Analytics 4 special?
Why can’t we migrate the Universal Analytics data to GA4?
GA4 is developed from a clean sheet of paper approach; what is recorded as a visit to your site would be different from how it is recorded. For example, UA records everything, and the visit where a user leaves the site without visiting another page is categorized as Bounce.
On the contrary, GA4 records only visits of only “engaged” users. A “visit” event in GA4 is a site user who “engaged” on the first page either staying on the page for over 10 seconds, scrolling the page, clicking any buttons, or visiting another page on the site. While this will improve the Bounce Rates, it also means that visit counts will vary and Universal Analytics data can’t be transferred to GA4.
The Clock Is Ticking!
With only a few months until UA stops recording, the sooner you activate your GA4 account, the more historical data it will contain. GA4 can run in parallel with UA for website traffic, you can upgrade to GA4 now.
However, with GA4, sales data can only be sent to either UA or GA4. This makes it complex to switch between UA and GA4 for the sales recording.
eCommerce GA4 Upgrade Consideration
For businesses with eCommerce tracking in Google UA, the upgrade to GA4 needs to take a structured upgrade process, as your eCommerce agency will need to implement technical changes.
Your eCommerce agency or technical team should be able to operate UA & GA4 in parallel for website traffic data; there can only be one eCommerce data source – either UA or GA4. This means to have the year-on-year comparison of eCommerce results, the switch over the timing of the eCommerce tracking will be critical.
How ioVista Can Help
If you are overwhelmed with this technical piece of upgrading – do not worry. ioVista can help you with your upgrade now. We are a Google Partner and have been working closely with Google to ensure we are trained and fully prepared to assist with the scoping and implementation of GA4 migrations.
For a free scoping session with ioVista’s Analytics specialists, contact us today, or leave your details below, and we’ll be in touch.
Albert Wood is an accomplished eCommerce Business Analyst. As a technology futurist and sales motivator at ioVista, Albert is dedicated to transforming struggling eCommerce businesses into thriving enterprises. With a keen focus on client’s business processes, user experience (UX), and leveraging the power of digital marketing, he helps businesses optimize their online presence and drive sustainable growth. Albert’s passion is for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), immersing himself in unforgettable experiences and exploring the limitless possibilities they offer. His enthusiasm for these emerging technologies fuels his drive to push the boundaries of innovation in eCommerce.
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ioVista
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
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