Google Analytics Updates: The Timeline Of Major Updates
Google Analytics is the widely accessed web analytics platform on the internet. Plenty of reasons are there for people using Google Analytics. But, the potential reason is that it renders unique and useful analytics resources. In October 2020, Google launched the most recent update to this platform, Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Google Analytics Updates: The Timeline Of Major Updates
GA4 has launched on July 4, 2022, and provides many exciting things for analytic purposes. The standard Universal Analytics will stop processing data as of July 1, 2023. It means Google Analytics 4 will become the default analytics platform. Even though it may seem like a long time away, getting Google Analytics 4 set up before this date will be more advantageous.
History of the Google Analytics
- In 1995, Urchin began under the company Quantified Systems. It was dedicated to rendering website development and hosting services. Urchin became a more popular tool for website traffic analysis. Google acquired Urchin in 2005 and rebranded to Urchin from Google for free service.
- Then, Classic Google Analytics was developed into two Google Analytics versions Asynchronous and Synchronous. In 2007, Google introduced the Google Analytics Synchronous Code (ga.js). It was encouraged to update the existing sites with the new page tag or access it on all the new installations. With new tracking functionality, it helped track e-commerce transactions easily.
- In 2009, Google announced the launch of a new Asynchronous Tracking Code that made access to the same ga.js code. It allowed webpages to load faster and enhanced accuracy.
- After that, Universal Analytics was announced, and Analytics Tag was released in October 2012 as the beta version for large companies. Later, it was open to the public in 2013 and rendered new tracking codes sites and tools. It rendered detailed information about user behavior.
- Google announced Universal Analytics was out of beta in 2014, and users could utilize the same features as in Classic Analytics. In 2016, all Classic Analytic properties were merged with Universal Analytics and added new properties. It helped track the same users across various devices.
- In October 2020, Google introduced the next generation of GA4. Previously, users required GA and Firebase to analyze the web and app. But GA4 unifies the reporting between web and app. It created an easy platform to assist clients understands how users interact on their sites and apps.
Timeline of Google Analytics Update
Here are the major updates of Google Analytics in 2022 that renders an in-depth analysis of this tool.
- January 7, 2022 – Availability of cross-channel data-driven attribution model in the attribution reports.
- February 11, 2022 – GA4 integration with display and video 360 and availability of BigQuery Export Filtering
- March 14, 2022 – GA4 integration with Search Ads 360 and Japan’s Amended APPI come into force.
- April 6, 2022 – Introduction of autosuggest for Search in GA4 and changes made to tagging setting in property change history on April 22.
- May 20, 2022 – Introduced new types of conversion modeling for the app users with ATT and users implementing consent mode.
- June 2, 2022 – Introduction of behavioral modeling for consent mode and EU domains for GA4
- July 8, 2022 – Web data support for the Google Ad Manager Integration and updates to the recently viewed section in Search
- August 5 and 16, 2022 – Access logging API and improvements to data-driven attribution
