Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google has replaced Google Analytics UA (the version that has been in use for a number of years) with Google Analytics 4. It stopped collecting data on July 1, 2023. Google says data will be available for at least 6 months after that but will eventually go away.
See below for use cases and guidance:
For www.mass.gov
Mass Digital has upgraded to Google Analytics 4 and has built the dashboards you currently see embedded on edit.mass.gov to use this data.
If you currently have a login to view the older version of Google Analytics for www.mass.gov directly on the Google Analytics website, you will need to request access to the GA4 property through ServiceNow.
There are a lot of differences in the user interface and the way tracking works in GA4. We will not be providing formal training for it, but information on how to use it is widely available online.
The website www.mass.gov uses a paid GA360 property and changes do not need to be complete until July 1, 2024.
Data in GA UA will not be available in GA4.
Tracking pixels: The Mass Digital team no longer supports pixel tracking.
Our technical team does not have sufficient capacity to support pixel tracking alongside our other critical work. Requests for pixels result in a substantial amount of communication to determine exactly what an organization wants and to get the pixels added. There are often multiple attempts needed to get the tracking code working as desired. When changes to the pixel code or the list of pages where the pixel should appear are needed, more manual work is needed for the technical team to make the change, test, and deploy.
For other websites or applications
Cross domain analytics tracking (optional)
Mass Digital maintains a simple analytics property for cross domain analytics to understand how web traffic pass between state-managed domains.
The cross-domain analytics property is not intended for anything but basic usage metrics. No custom configuration on the analytics property will be done for any specific state web property or application. Any site-specific configuration should be done in a separate dedicated analytics property (see 2b below).
Participation in cross-domain tracking is optional but is suggested if you want to get detailed data about how visitors move between www.mass.gov and your application on another state domain.
For sites that already use cross domain analytics, we will supply you with a different analytics embed code and identifier that you can replace in your code.
For sites that don’t currently use cross domain analytics but want to implement: We can supply you with the analytics embed code and property identifier
Dedicated analytics instances for specific state websites (not www.mass.gov)
All state websites should have their own analytics instance (property) in addition to cross domain analytics (if used). This will allow you to optimize your tracking to meet your business needs and make changes as necessary. You can also leave the default configuration in place and make no changes if your needs are very simple:
You don’t need to use Google Analytics specifically and can use whatever analytics tool your team or vendor has the ability to implement and use. If you don’t have any analytics skills or product preferences, use Google Analytics with the default configuration since there is no cost.
If you have your own Google Analytics UA property now and are not paying for Google Analytics 360:
You will need to move to Google Analytics 4 before July 1, 2023, or your analytics collection will stop. Follow these instructions.
If you have any dashboard or integrations with GA, you will need to update them.
If you don’t currently have your own Google Analytics account and property:
You should create one using these instructions. You can use the default settings to start.
Google Data Studio (Looker Studio) dashboards
If you have Google Data Studio (Looker Studio) dashboards that show data from GA UA, you will need to modify them to use Google Analytics 4 data. This may be complex based on your specific dashboards. We recommend that you copy your existing dashboards and then modify the copied versions. (See support section below)
Support
Configuring and using analytics beyond the default configuration takes skills and effort and GA4 is significantly different and more complex than prior versions. Mass Digital is not able to provide direct support for this, but you can use the extensive support materials available online.
Your best source for information, support, and training is from Google directly:
You can request a paid engagement with Mass Digital or work with a vendor to get assistance configuring and using analytics to meet your specific needs.
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