Twitter has been on a low boil for weeks as many users across the search marketing world expressed their extreme displeasure with Google Analytics 4 (GA4). While there are some positive comments, the many negative comments come from search marketing professionals who one would expect to be brand ambassadors of GA4 and not their most passionate critics.
GA4 is Difficult to Use
A common complaint about GA4 is that it is difficult to use. Some search marketers noted that GA4 seems geared for use by enterprise level users more than smaller businesses.
Dave Davies (@beanstalkim) is a search marketing expert and co-host of the Webcology Search Marketing podcast, a person one would expect to be a brand evangelist for Google’s products but even Dave was tweeting his negative experience with GA4.
It was startling to see his recent tweet proclaiming that “GA4 sucks” because the user interface is not intuitive and is difficult to use.
Dave noted that commonly used features are buried within the user interface as if purposely making it difficult to access.
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Dear Google.
GA4 sucks.
I’m not sure who there thought, “Let’s make a lot of the important data hard to access, and unintuitive to SEOs let alone regular business owners.” but please fire them and put it away with authorship and Google+ and let’s move on.— Dave Davies (@beanstalkim) June 23, 2021
Another search marketer Called GA4 HORRIBLE (in caps) and complained that basic features were now difficult to access, mirroring Dave Davie’s observation about the unintuitive user interface.
Website owners, is it just me or is the new GA4 @googleanalytics just HORRIBLE? It’s like it’s designed only for retail sites or something, very hard to get the basic info that I used to rely on… Think I’ll switch back! Awful!
— Trevor Long (@trevorlong) June 23, 2021
Another search marketer agreed that the word “horrible” accurately described the new Google Analytics 4.
The marketer wished they hadn’t wasted so much time trying to familiarize themselves with the poor user interface.
It was also noted that third party add-ons still don’t work.
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GA4 is Described as Horrible
It is horrible. I wish I switched back earlier. Tried to get used to the interface and new menus for months. Still can’t get around them + some third party services don’t work with GA4
— Michael Aulia
(@michaelaulia) June 23, 2021
GA4 is Described as “Awful”
I was just having this conversation with someone. It’s awful! Try tracking events with GTM and GA4. I’m giving up and going back to Universal.
— Stephanie Lummis (@stephanielummis) June 22, 2021
GA4 Described as Unusable
Another Google Analytics user posted several tweets expressing her displeasure with GA4
So true! Pretty much unusable for most folks. I get the idea of data streams but for most that just have a website (not apps etc), the old analytics was better. Well at least we have gotten used to it. I’m leaning towards trying Clicky analytics on the next project
— Victor Jónsson (@victorjonsson) June 22, 2021
GA4 Might Bring Users to Tears
A series of tweets noted how it was difficult to use and had her on the edge of crying and questioned Google’s commitment to small businesses.
I wonder if this move means that GA decided to simply ditch small business owners and cater only to big websites & companies. I was also thinking if they stop supporting Universal tag, I’ll be looking for a different solution.
— Gill Andrews (@StoriesWithGill) June 22, 2021
Half an hour later, and I still don’t know how to see how many homepage visits we had. Why, GA4, why??!!
— Gill Andrews (@StoriesWithGill) June 22, 2021
I usually can find my way round any piece of software quickly. But Google Analytics 4 is making me cry…
I’ve never seen a tool upgrade that made simple things sooo complicated
Non-tech business owners were already struggling to use it. But now they have NO chance. pic.twitter.com/anfwvxM7Bc — Gill Andrews (@StoriesWithGill) June 22, 2021
GA4 is So Complex You Need a Manual to Use It?
Another tweet (unintentionally) underlined how complex GA4 has become.
Search marketer Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) posted a link to a 1,400 word article about how to access basic functionalities in the new analytics service.
The article is well written but one has to wonder about the utility of any user interface that requires 1,400 words and screenshots to learn how to use it.
Using GA4 and want to find the All Pages equivalent from Universal Analytics? The post also includes the differences b/t the two -> How to Use The Pages and Screens Report in Google Analytics 4 https://t.co/FsgfQv9in6 pic.twitter.com/BMrYU2SMjZ
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 19, 2021
Google Analytics 4 Not Ready for General Use?
Other search marketers expressed their opinions that GA4 is a mess and not ready for “prime time” while also expressing hope hope that Google will fix the issues.
Okay, let’s talk about #UTM in #GA4
To see the UTM, select “Life Cycle | Engagement | Events” and click on page_view event. Change “User Engagement” from “Page Title” to “Page Path”. The UTM will appear in the list.
Yes, it’s a mess. I expect @GoogleAnalytics will fix this. pic.twitter.com/gYi549w9we
— Andreas Ramos (@Andreas_Ramos) June 17, 2021
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Yet others expressed less hope, tweeting that GA4 seems to have been rushed out and that it was giving them post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a disorder that is triggered by traumatic events.
She listed some of the Google services she had adopted in the past that were subsequently abandoned, expressing a lack of enthusiasm for adopting GA4.
One of the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm is what she noted as GA4 not being “error free.”
Hey, I was there for G+, Google Talk, Picasa, Google Notebook…. and now… GA4.
I have Google PTSD. the Big G & #digitalmarketing pays m’bills, but getting excited about another tool, still fresh, not error free, & may be dropped in another couple of months isn’t my bag — Jahnelle Seaman (@jrpittman) June 21, 2021
The negative feedback about Google Analytics 4 is that it’s not ready and that it was rushed out in a state that still needed improvement.
One user said it was not ready for prime time. Prime time is a phrase that references the time period in the evening when most people watch television.
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To say that something is not ready for prime time is to communicate that something is not yet ready for use.
Thanks for identifying this issue. Real bummer. GA4 is so not ready for primetime.
— Jen Boland (@jenboland) June 22, 2021
You’re welcome.
GA4 is getting closer, and the BQ integration is a really big deal.
But, yes, GA4 isn’t primetime ready yet. I fully agree.
And the GTM integration would really benefit from functionality that parallels GA3.
— Dr. Analytics Ninja, PhD (@AnalyticsNinja) June 22, 2021
Not All the Feedback was Negative
Some people on Twitter offered positive words for GA4. But even their hopeful tweets contained negative feedback that noted how the user interface was “overly complicated.”
Just upgraded to Google Analytics 4. Not a fun process and it looks overly complicated.
But I love the new dashboard UI, it looks pretty slick especially the realtime dashboard. pic.twitter.com/80YDE04gvY
— Yuyu (@swSalim) June 23, 2021
New services can sometimes have a rocky launch. No doubt many people are experiencing that with Google Analytics 4.
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Intuitive design has never been one of Google’s strong points and if all the people complaining on Twitter (and Facebook) are to be believed, GA4 may represent a benchmark in how bad a Google product user friendliness can get.
Roger Montti is a search marketer with 20 years experience.
I offer site audits and link building strategies.