- [Instructor] So we're at a bit of a crossroads
in Google Analytics, is there are two current versions
of Google Analytics in existence in this,
we have two current versions of this course.
The brand new version that's just been released.
In fact, so new that they're stilling filling in
all the features, is called Google Analytics 4,
or GA4 for short.
It is a complete from scratch rewrite.
It's rebuilt from the ground up
so it has entirely new events-driven data model,
it is not compatible with the existing Google Analytics.
This means you can't just click upgrade
and move your old data to the new system.
You have to start collecting everything
from scratch all over again.
While it has a ton of really powerful features,
it's still missing a few that existing users
may really rely on.
But the important thing is that this course
is not about GA4.
This course is all about the user interface
of the previous version, which is still current as well,
known as Universal Analytics.
This is the version that's been around
for many years, and if you had an account
for the past few years,
it is almost certainly Universal Analytics.
And it's important to note,
this tool isn't going away anytime soon.
Millions of people rely on this tool
and the data inside, Google knows this.
So while they hope that you will continue
to test the waters with the new version,
Universal Analytics isn't going away anytime soon,
so we will continue to host this course
and teach you how to use it.
Now, given that there are two,
which one should we use?
Well, if you already have all of your data
in the Universal Analytics account, start here,
we'll show you how to use that data.
If you're starting from scratch
and you have no data at all,
then perhaps starting in the new version
makes the most sense.
Many of the still being developed features of GA4
run e-commerce tracker.
So if you're a heavy e-com user,
you may want to have UA on-hand for a while,
even if you're starting from scratch.
So Universal Analytics might still be a good choice.
But, there's another option, do both.
In this course, and even more so in the GA4 course,
we'll show you how to tag it
so that you get your data in both.
That way you start populating the new GA4 data model.
When you're ready, you can switch over
to that GA4 and have plenty of built up data.
Hopefully this gives you an idea
of which version makes sense.
And even if you continue down
the Universal Analytics path of this course,
I do hope you'll check out the GA4 course
to get a preview of what's to come in the future.