---
title: "Universal Analytics: start your GA4 move now"
url: "https://www.omnicliq.com/en/blog/universal-analytics-ga4-migration/"
description: "Google announced that starting July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics will stop collecting and recording new data — replaced by the brand new Google Analytics 4. Less than a year to go — 318 days, to be precise. At Omnicliq we started the transition process some time ago and look forward to fully leveraging everything the new version enables. This post walks through what the migration actually involves and why we are treating it as structural rather than cosmetic."
category: "data-bi"
datePublished: "2022-08-17"
readTime: "3 min read"
author: "Dimitris Bachtsevanis"
locale: "en"
---

# Universal Analytics: start your GA4 move now

> Google announced that starting July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics will stop collecting and recording new data — replaced by the brand new Google Analytics 4. Less than a year to go — 318 days, to be precise. At Omnicliq we started the transition process some time ago and look forward to fully leveraging everything the new version enables. This post walks through what the migration actually involves and why we are treating it as structural rather than cosmetic.

**TL;DR.** From July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics stops recording data and GA4 takes its place. That leaves less than a year. What the migration involves in practice, why it is more than a tag swap, and what you gain by starting early.

## Why this is not a drop-in replacement

Universal Analytics and [GA4](/en/labs/ga4/) look similar on the surface but are fundamentally different under the hood. The data model is new: UA thinks in sessions and hits; GA4 thinks in events and users. The measurement model is new: GA4 is event-first, built for web and app together, and designed around privacy-aware measurement from the ground up. The reporting surface is new: many of the UA reports users relied on do not exist in GA4 and have to be rebuilt using Explore.

Treating this as “just install the new tag and move on” is how brands end up, in July 2023, with an empty-looking GA4 property and no year-over-year baseline to work with. The right posture is: **start early, plan structurally, run both systems in parallel for as long as possible**.

## What the migration actually involves

At Omnicliq, the GA4 migration work we are running for clients falls into four tracks:

1. **Event architecture rebuild:** UA custom events rarely map cleanly to GA4. Redesigning the event schema — what counts as an event, what parameters travel with it, which events are recommended versus custom — is a prerequisite, not an afterthought.
2. **Enhanced measurement configuration:** GA4's automatic tracking covers behaviours (scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, file downloads) that UA required manual setup for. Configuring these correctly reduces the custom code surface significantly.
3. **E-commerce re-instrumentation:** GA4's Enhanced E-commerce model uses different event names and parameters than UA's. Product pages, cart events, and the full purchase journey all need re-instrumentation to maintain accurate revenue and funnel reporting.
4. **Data continuity and parallel running:** Running UA and GA4 side by side until the deadline gives you a baseline to validate GA4 numbers against. Data parity is not perfect — it never is between two different data models — but getting them as close as possible builds the confidence to switch fully in July 2023.

## What GA4 makes possible that UA never did

The migration is not just a forced move. GA4 opens possibilities UA did not have:

- **User journeys across web and app:** web and app measurement in the same property, with user identity that can carry across both.
- **BigQuery export at no extra cost:** raw events available for your own analysis and a [data stack](/en/labs/data-stack/), without the cost of GA360.
- **Privacy-aware measurement:** designed around consent and cookieless measurement from day one, not retrofitted.
- **Predictive metrics:** purchase and churn probability inside the tool, which UA never had.

For brands that start early and treat it as an upgrade rather than a swap, GA4 enables measurement that UA held back. Setup starts in [Google Tag Manager](/en/labs/gtm/), and the time to plan is now.

## FAQ

### Can I move my old data into GA4?
No. GA4 starts from zero, which is why it pays to set it up early, so you have history to compare against when Universal Analytics stops.

### Is installing the new tag enough?
No. You need to plan events, conversions and reports, because GA4 measures differently from Universal Analytics.

### What do I gain with GA4?
One measurement model for web and app, events with parameters, better audiences for advertising and more privacy-friendly measurement.