The Gist
- Data urgency. Act swiftly to export critical Google Universal Analytics data before the shutdown.
- Export limitations. Be mindful of the 5,000-row export limit in Google Sheets.
- Temporary storage. Use secure cloud platforms for immediate data storage needs.
Deadlines for discontinued products and services seem like a far-distant worry when you first hear about them. At least that was the case for Google Universal Analytics, the version of Google Analytics before the current GA4. I reported last year that Google would give Google Analytics users a year of overlap between UA and GA4 access. The plan was for UA’s properties to stop processing analytics data on July 1, 2023, and for the data access to be eliminated on July 1 of this year.
In other words, the deadline has arrived.
So what can marketers do in such a brief, possibly panicked time? Plenty, with heads remaining calm and keyboard fingers moving swiftly.
Here is an overview of that “plenty” — the steps needed to get the best data export done now — for all you Johnny-come-latelys working this coming weekend to get things done.
Related Article: Storing UA Data: Your Best Last-Minute Google Analytics Transition Play
What To Do Before the Google Universal Analytics Shutdown
Analytics users will not have access to any current or historical Google Universal Analytics data. When July 1 arrives most users will lose access to the interface and the API.
According to Google, users will be able to see their Universal Analytics reports for a period of time after July 1, 2023, but it will likely be a week at best.
However, new data created from July 1 onward will only appear in Google Analytics 4 properties.
The data shut-off means your teams should be highly motivated to gather data for storage — fast! The storage can be temporary. The critical objective is saving the data, as much as possible. Otherwise, marketing teams may lose the ability to do some comparison analysis and vital insights that could lead to better decisions.
If possible, look to gather close to a year’s worth of past data. This will allow your teams to do a year-over-year comparison of metrics — a typical business request. The data can be imported into a platform like BigQuery or Looker for analysis, or even in Python or R for time series analysis.
Related Article: Google Analytics: 4 Tips to Transition from Universal Analytics
What Can Be Done?
Clearly not much time is left to store Google Universal Analytics data before the July 1 deadline. Yet several actions can still be done quickly. Here is what users can do to act quickly and make plans for a life without Google Universal Analytics.
1. Export As Much Data As Possible
Exporting large datasets can take time, but it can still be done quickly with dedicated effort. Using the Google Analytics Reporting API or the Data Export tool within the Universal Analytics interface can allow historical reporting data to be exported into various formats like CSV, TSV or Google Sheets.
Users can also download the data into a Google Sheet via an analytics add-on. To use it, Google Sheets add-on for Analytics must be installed in a Google Sheets account. Then, users can apply an archiving template from the add-on, replacing the View ID with the actual View ID for a given Google Analytics property. Users can also update the date ranges.
One key thing to note is that the plugin is not designed for significantly large date ranges. It has an export limitation of 5,000 rows.
When you run the template reports, data for the most commonly used reports in the GA UI will be exported. Once the report is complete, the data can be directly queried in BigQuery or used to create dashboards in Looker Studio. It is a one-time process for every view, so you have to repeat for each view data you want to archive.
Keep in mind that given the current timeframe, the export tool and Google Sheets are the fastest choices. The Reporting API does offer more flexibility to define custom reports and export data programmatically than the tool. The technical knowledge required might create a time crunch to acquire all the desired data.
Related Article: Master the Move from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4
2. Prioritize Data to Export
Like triage in the military, analytics should focus on exporting the most critical data segments that fit planned operations and future analysis. The best candidates to prioritize are the segments that teams access most frequently — referral sources and conversion reporting. Examples include user acquisition trends by channel, user behavior metrics (e.g., page views, session duration), conversion rates and demographic data.
Prioritize any communication among stakeholders to gather what data needs to be exported. This will help minimize any disruption of their reporting because their data needs were
Related Article: 8 Google Analytics 4 Features That Leave Universal Analytics in the Dust
3. Choose a Temporary But Secure Storage Location
Marketers should select a secure and reliable platform to store exported data is usually. In many urgent instances, having any storage may be the only option. For most B2B companies, the data will be a reasonable size — often as simple as a few CSV files. Ecommerce firms will usually have a lot of rows to process, resulting in a significant process curve to get all data stored.
Cloud storage platforms like Google Cloud Storage, Amazon S3, or Microsoft Azure are useful for secure and scalable storage. A data warehouse would be better for ease of integration with other warehouse data. For now, focus on capturing data. Local storage can be used while determining if better solutions that support centralized analysis exist.
Related Article: How Marketers Should Prepare for Google’s Universal Analytics 2023 Sunset
4. Create a Brief Documenting System for Your Available Data
The most important tip for moving forward is to act quickly on documenting the access. If analysts are working past the deadline, they can still document the reporting data available. Notes and observations can serve as useful metadata for the exported data to explain what it represents and how it was collected. Even saving screenshots of reports may provide some basic indications of what certain dimensions and metrics mean, and what a reproduced report should provide.
Parting Thoughts
The time crunch to get all the data is now. According to Google, the shutdown will happen on July 1 or within the week for most users. But with some quick thinking, marketers can save their teams a lot of headaches from the discontinuation of Google Universal Analytics.
