Universal Analytics stopped processing data. What to check in GA4 now
Standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing new data on July 1. A checklist for confirming that GA4, your Google Ads links and your exports are doing the jobs UA used to do.
July 1 was the date Google had set for standard Universal Analytics properties to stop processing new data, and the shutdown has begun. Martech.org reported that a warning appeared in accounts that morning saying the property was "scheduled to stop processing data very soon", and that Google is phasing the change in stages, so some properties may behave differently for a few days. Whatever your property shows, the practical question is the same: is GA4 collecting what you need, and is anything still reading from UA?
Confirm GA4 is receiving data, and whose setup it is
Google has been creating GA4 properties automatically since March for active UA properties that had not been migrated and had not opted out, reusing existing site tags where possible. If you never touched yours, you may be running an auto-created property with default settings that nobody on your team reviewed.
Open GA4 and check the basics:
- Is data arriving each day, and does the volume look plausible against your own backend or store records?
- Which events are being collected, and are they the ones you used as goals in UA?
- Who owns the property, and does the right person have access?
Expect differences in the numbers. GA4 counts differently from UA, so compare trends and relative performance, not exact totals.
Fix the Google Ads link first
This is where the shutdown hurts paid media most. Google's guidance is that if a UA property was linked to Google Ads, UA data stopped flowing to Google Ads beginning July 1, 2023. Campaigns that bid on conversions imported from UA goals or ecommerce transactions, that used UA audiences, or that imported UA site metrics are affected.
Google's recommended steps are to link the Google Ads account to the GA4 property, create Google Ads conversions from GA4 conversion events for bidding, and add GA4 audiences for remarketing. In practice that means:
- Link GA4 to each Google Ads account that used UA data.
- List every conversion action in Google Ads that was imported from UA. Check its status and recent volume.
- Recreate the important ones from GA4 events, and watch the first days before moving any bidding strategy onto them.
- Rebuild remarketing lists in GA4 and confirm they are populating.
If a smart bidding strategy was optimizing toward a UA-imported conversion that has gone quiet, it is optimizing toward nothing. Look for campaigns where conversions fell to zero this week and check the conversion source before you blame performance.
Get your history out
Google has said you can view and export previously processed UA data until July 1, 2024, as Martech.org reported in April. That is a year, but exports take time and reports differ in what they can return. Google's own help page lists the options: export individual reports as CSV, TSV, Excel, Google Sheets or PDF; use the Analytics Reporting API to send data to cloud storage and connect it to Looker Studio; or use the Google Sheets add-on for Analytics to archive data. Analytics 360 customers can export to BigQuery.
Decide what you really need. For most teams that means a handful of reports: year-over-year traffic and conversions by channel, landing page performance and a few seasonal benchmarks. Export those first, store them somewhere with a clear name, and leave the rest for later.
Check the tags and the quiet dependencies
Look for anything still configured around UA:
- Tag Manager tags that fire UA hits and are now sending data nowhere.
- Dashboards in Looker Studio or spreadsheets connected to a UA property.
- Third-party tools, such as attribution or CRM connectors, that read from UA.
- Internal reports that the finance or product team still pulls on a schedule.
Do not delete the UA property to tidy up. Keep it in place while you finish the exports, since you will want to view the history.
Where to start this week
Do things in this order: verify GA4 is collecting, repair the Google Ads link and conversions, export the reports you cannot lose, then clean up tags and dashboards. The first two protect your spend and the last two can wait a few weeks.