Google leaves “cookies” behind and imposes new challenges

Google Analytics, the most widely used website analysis tool in the world, leaves “cookies” in the background with its GA4 version, in which a new way of examining the behavior of Internet users and a commitment to greater privacy aim to revolutionize digital advertising strategies.

The new version comes at a crucial moment considering the new needs and demands of the growing digital market, Gabriel Barrios, head of data and analysis at MRM Chile, which is part of the global network of advertising agencies McCann Worldgroup, and Deb Slabodsky, Google’s head of data measurement, explained to EFE and privacy for Latin America.

GA4 will replace Universal Analytics, a version that has been in operation since April 2014 and is used by 56.7% of all websites in the world, which represents the share of traffic analysis, according to the data of the consultancy on the use of Internet technologies W3TECHS. tool market 86.1%.

“This new market demands more digital intelligence and precision. And the numbers back it up: The web analytics field will double in the next three years, to $7,000 million in 2026,” Barrios said.

“Cookies”, IP anonymity and privacy
Google Analytics 4 (GA4), whose adoption deadline is July 1, “is an online platform that allows businesses and individuals to measure and analyze Internet users’ traffic and interaction with a website and/or mobile app,” Slabodsky said. , who emphasized that machine learning will help answer the current need of all people: to preserve their privacy.

A Google spokeswoman mentioned that GA4 includes “new privacy controls” that will allow websites to adjust the data they collect and minimize the scope of user information.

One of the big changes with GA4 will be the passing of “cookies” to the background, tiny computer files that websites send, store in the browser and use to obtain user data, such as their IP address and your browsing habits.

With GA4, Google uses machine learning and manages to cover, using historical trends, the gaps that arise when Internet users choose not to accept “cookies”, allowing information about user behavior to be obtained while keeping their data anonymous.

“With GA4, IP addresses will no longer be stored nor is it based solely on ‘cookies’. The logic is based on events (user interactions on the website or “app”), not page views and sessions like the previous version , launched ten years ago,” says Barrios.

For experts, with other sources of data besides “cookies”, GA4 will help “website and mobile app owners gain a deeper understanding of their users while respecting privacy more”.

Greater knowledge of the audience
As for the changes, Google explains that GA4 offers a much more robust measurement system than Universal Analytics, so “companies may find it challenging to get used to it.”

Among the changes offered by this update is the ability to collect data from “apps” and the web and thus unify analysis, with the use of predictive tools and the ability to measure data from different sources.

Barrios points out that using data models based on customer interactions on a website or “app” offers user-centric measurement, which will allow brands to better understand their audiences.

“And, through modernized digital marketing, also suggest more attractive content and develop quickly, directly related to the consumer experience,” he adds.

Google has finally warned that on July 1, the free Universal Analytics entities will stop processing data. “After that date, users will be able to access historical data for a short period, but will not be able to continue to evaluate or activate future information,” the tech giant said.