More than 28 million U.S. websites stand to lose up to 18 years of historic data when Google permanently deletes Universal Analytics from its servers on July 1, 2024. It is the final step in Google’s sunsetting of the original analytics program that businesses have relied on to track campaigns, conversions, and other critical website interactions as far back as 2005.
Now, countless business owners and website management services are scrambling to export years’ worth of hits, clicks, views, and engagements.
Why is Google deleting Universal Analytics data?
Google always planned to delete Universal Analytics. We just didn’t know when.
On July 1, 2023, Google stopped processing new data in Universal Analytics and required the adoption of GA4. While users retained access to historical data in Universal Analytics, Google announced plans to delete it sometime after December 2023.
We now know that date is July 1, 2024 – exactly one year from the transition to GA4.
While inconvenient for the end-user, Google’s deletion of Universal Analytics data will allow the tech giant to free up a significant amount of server space, streamline operations, and ensure compliance with evolving consumer privacy standards – which were factored into the development of GA4.
How to export and save Universal Analytics data:
As an agency focused on the heart of decision making, Crawford constantly uses data to inform strategies, evaluate year-over-year campaign performance trends, and analyze changes in user behavior over time (i.e. pre-and-post COVID).
That said, not everything may need to be saved. Before moving forward with the options presented below, ask the following questions:
- Why might historic data need to be preserved or accessed?
- How much data really needs to be saved, and how far back?
- Which metrics are most important (i.e. sessions, purchases)?
- Which dimensions are most important (i.e. campaign, source/medium)?
- Which metric and dimension combinations are most important (i.e. sessions by campaign)?
- Is the value of preserving the data worth the export time or storage costs?
Manual Export: For younger websites, or those with minimal traffic, a manual export may be an option. For ease of sorting and filtering, Crawford suggests exporting data into Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets.
Data Warehouses: For mature websites or those that rely on complex data analysis and reporting, employing the services of a third-party data warehouse is likely the best solution.
Data warehouses can store massive amounts of data, either on their own servers or in the cloud. Pricing varies depending on the amount of data being queried and stored, but cloud-based data warehouses are often more affordable than server storage.
In addition to Google’s own cloud-based data warehouse, Google BigQuery, alternatives like Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and Oracle Analytics Cloud also may be worth exploring.
Connecting to data warehouses can require quite a bit of technical know-how. For organizations without in-house data teams, a quick Google search will produce a list of companies offering to make warehouse connections and export Analytics data through API integrations or other proprietary solutions.
Planning ahead is the first step for success.
A year ago, Crawford assisted clients in staying one step ahead of Google by transitioning to GA4 before the deadline. Today, organizations face the challenge of identifying the best export and warehouse solutions before Google permanently deletes Universal Analytics data. While Universal Analytics will remain accessible through the end of June, Google recommends all users complete historical data exports by March 2024 to allow time for data validation and testing.
So, the answer to the question, “When is the best time for me start this process?” is quite simply … now.