Universal Analytics stops in July: your GA4 checklist

On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties stop processing new data. Since March, Google has been creating a Google Analytics 4 property automatically for anyone who hadn't set one up, but an auto-created property doesn't mean it's measuring what you care about. Below is the checklist we're running on every site right now, ahead of the deadline.

What happens, and when

Google's help page on the Universal Analytics (UA) shutdown lays out the dates:

• July 1, 2023: standard UA properties stop processing data. Paid Analytics 360 properties get a one-time extension until July 1, 2024.
• From March 2023: if you haven't created a GA4 property, Google creates one for you based on your UA settings, unless you opt out. If you already have one connected to UA, Google copies over configurations (goals and audiences, for example) that you haven't marked as complete.
• After July 1, 2023: your old UA data stays accessible for at least six months. Google recommends exporting your historical reports during that window and says it will announce a later date when UA properties go away entirely.

How to tell what you have: if your property was created before October 14, 2020, it's most likely Universal Analytics.

The GA4 checklist

1. The tag is on every page. In GA4's real-time report, check that visits show up from every section of the site, including the thank-you pages after a form or an order.
2. Enhanced measurement is on, and you know what it does. GA4 can measure interactions like scrolling, clicks to other sites, or site search without extra code. See which options are active and whether they make sense for you.
3. UA goals become conversions. GA4 has no "goals": you mark the event that matters (form submitted, call, order) as a conversion. Check that the auto-copied ones actually fire.
4. Data retention is set. For detailed event-level data you can choose 2 or 14 months. The setting doesn't affect standard aggregated reports, but it does matter for detailed analysis (explorations). We set it to 14 months.
5. Your own traffic stays out. Define internal traffic (your office, your team) and filter it out of reports.
6. Google Ads and Search Console links are redone. If you run ads and bid on goals imported from UA, your campaigns will be affected after the shutdown. Import conversions from GA4 and check your audiences.
7. Your cookie banner controls GA4 the same way it controlled UA. The new tag has to respect the same visitor choices as the old one.

What to export from Universal Analytics

Before July 1, and at the latest within the six months after, save what you'll want for comparisons:

• monthly visits over the past few years (to see seasonality);
• traffic sources by month;
• your most visited pages;
• conversions by month, per goal.

Export them from the reports to Google Sheets or Excel. You don't need day-level history: for a small business, monthly totals are usually enough.

Why the numbers won't match exactly

GA4 measures differently from UA: everything is built on events, not on sessions and pageviews. Google has a whole page on what to expect when comparing metrics between the two. Differences in users or sessions are normal. For purchases, where each order is a clear event, Google says the numbers should match closely, as long as you send a unique transaction ID correctly.

In practice: from July on, compare GA4 with GA4. Use your UA export for big trends only, not for gaps of a few percent.

One more change worth knowing: Google has said GA4 no longer stores visitors' IP addresses.

We covered what changes from UA to GA4 last year, in our piece on what's different in Google Analytics 4. If you'd like us to run the check with you, see our marketing services.