The worldwide message is given. According to Google, all standard properties of its Universal Analytics tool - version 3 of Google Analytics used to bring data about navigation and searches made by users on websites and applications - will stop processing data on July 1, 2023. That's 15 months for companies to migrate to the new version, Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It may seem like a long time. But it's not. After all, the sooner the new version is adopted, the further ahead companies will be refining their own data measurement processes, to understand the behavior of their customers and leads, fundamental to optimize conversion, from the new platform. And by knowing more about user behavior on the internet, they will consequently achieve better results in their business, more competitiveness and confidence in the market. It will also be a change in the usability of the tool, so professionals will also need to adapt to the new platform.

GA4 was created to bring new proposals for search optimization, where platforms seek to integrate with greater agility, in the face of an increasing relevance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in the elaboration of companies' strategies. Its great differential is precisely the characteristic of allowing a complete view of the customer journey with a flexible measurement model based on events that is not fragmented by platform or organized in independent sessions, but taking into account interactions on different platforms. 

In other words: unlike the predecessor version, the new tool integrates the entire user journey, regardless of how many devices have been used by the same person via website and/or apps in a given search until the eventual purchase. This unique user identification is performed by three methods: by the website logins system, by the Google account and by the device used by the user.  

Google Analytics 4 should also impact the quality of advertising and marketing actions. With the possibility of understanding that the user who browses the site and uses the application is the same, it will be possible to avoid excessive advertising and make the experience much more friendly and more likely to stick.

Importantly, GA4 will also no longer store IP addresses and will not rely on invasive and controversial cookies. This solution and control is especially necessary in the current national and international data privacy scenario, in which users expect more and more protection and control of their personal information, meeting the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

With these features, Google Analytics 4 makes it possible to predict new and more valuable insights. Most importantly, it is designed to keep pace with an ever-changing ecosystem. Therefore, the platform helps companies meet evolving needs and user expectations with more comprehensive and granular controls for data collection and use, enabling more accurate delivery of analytics in a more rational and secure model. 

It only remains to be seen whether, in the future, Google will be able to refine and identify subgroups of users. In a country like Brazil, where there is device sharing, whether computer or cell phone, there is the challenge of identifying who actually did a particular search. How to do this measurement? We await the next chapters.