This is truly a double edged sword and it raises serious concerns about the value of GA if the underlying data is now inaccurate.
My websites operate with Google Analytics (GA). A foundational requirement of any analytics package is to gather accurate analytical data. Up until now GA has been doing so and has built on top of that foundation some great tools for consuming that data. That is the value proposition of GA and it has been a good one - it convinced me.
However if these changes mean that GA is not gathering accurate data, or omitting certain data then the foundation has a serious flaw. And if the foundation is flawed then all of the great data consumption features that are built on top of it are for naught.
I understand and support people's desire to take an active role in managing their digital breadcrumb trail and I also support Google's efforts to help people do so by making tools available for free. But Google cannot at the same time promote an analytics package that has fundamental flaws in its foundation.
Of course as of today (and probably for some time to come) most users will not be availing themselves of these new functions. Therefore the majority of the analytical data that I get will still be accurate with a small margin of error due to the few users who will be availing themselves of these functions. However if these functions become more popular and Google does not fix the foundational flaw in GA that they have introduced with these announcements, then I will be forced to stop using GA. I will be sad to do so as I really like the GA tools, but if my underlying data is inaccurate than all the great GA user interface is useless to me.
Google, please fix the foundational flaws in GA that you have introduced with these announcements and please fix it soon?
Discussion on:
Message 7 of 1
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