Analytics

Update 3/27/23:
Countdown to GA4: 100 days to make the switch

Update 2/7/23
Google will soon configure Google Analytics 4 for you (automatically)

Hello.

Universal Analytics standard properties will stop processing data on July 1, 2023. To maximize historical data and to ensure that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) meets your specific needs, we recommend you make the switch to Google Analytics 4 now. This will give you the opportunity to customize the setup including using the latest site tag.

For any customer who does not set up a GA4 property with basic settings, starting in March, we will configure one with a few basic settings consistent with the existing Universal Analytics property; this includes certain conversion events, Google Ads links, and existing website tags.

For Universal Analytics customers whose websites are tagged with gtag.js or analytics.js (including through tag management systems like Google Tag Manager), we will create a connected site tag that will reuse existing tags when possible to send traffic to the new GA4 property. If you do not wish to have a GA4 property created and configured based on your Universal Analytics property and existing tags, you may opt-out.

Sincerely,
The Google Analytics Team

Not sure what to do about this alert regarding Google Analytics? 
Universal Analytics will no longer process new data in standard properties starting in 2023.  Prepare now by setting up and switching over to a Google Analytivs 4 property. 

- Or this email? -

We'll soon sunset Universal Analytics
On July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics will stop processing new hits. If you still rely on Universal Analytics, we urge you to prepare for the future by moving over to Google Analytics 4, our next-generation measurement solution.

Google has recently announced some changes coming to their Analytics platform. 

If your website was created before October 14, 2020, most likely changes will be required in order to continue using Google Analytics.

Lately I've been wondering if the Google Analytics script is going extinct. A recent political campaign gave me some statistics to examine, and I'm having a tough time reconciling Google Analytics data with my web server stats.  It seems the web server, and the CMS, are reporting a lot more traffic than Google recognizes, likely because Google Analytics' script is blocked by many ad block scripts, privacy oriented browsers, etc.

(original article)

Ecommerce site’s “blind trust” makes the service a perfect place to dump data.

Hackers are abusing Google Analytics so that they can more covertly siphon stolen credit card data out of infected ecommerce sites, researchers reported on Monday.

Payment card skimming used to refer solely to the practice of infecting point-of-sale machines in brick-and-mortar stores. The malware would extract credit card numbers and other data. Attackers would then use or sell the stolen information so it could be used in payment card fraud.

I recently had to come up with a way to track a client's Drupal site, using the Webform module, from within Google Analytics.  Since the Webform module generates the "submit" button automatically, there is no easy way to include the "onClick" tracking code provided by Google into the form:

onClick="ga('send', 'event', { eventCategory: 'Legacy Event Signup', eventAction: 'Sign Up', eventLabel: 'Legacy Signups', eventValue: 1});"

My solution was to write a short "hook" script in the template.  To incorporate into your site, you need to modify this file:

/sites/all/themes/YOURTHEME/template.php

Background:

From the dawn of time, Google has provided you the exact keyword queries people have used to find your site. So, anybody that goes to Google, types in a keyword combination and winds up at your website, Google has told you the keywords they’ve used to find that. And that’s highly valuable information because you can use those keyword combinations to optimize your site around to get even more people to your site.

Well recently, they stopped doing that, and this was a big hit to a lot of people. But today, I’m going to show you three reports that Google has started including inside of their analytics dashboard, that can help you get around this, to identify what keywords people are using to find you, and to optimize your site around those keywords. So, let’s get going.