March 2022: Google sets an end date for Universal Analytics
Covers March 2022. Part of our search timeline: a month-by-month look at the changes that shaped SEO, AI search, paid ads and social media, written in November 2026 for local businesses with the benefit of hindsight.
Quick answer: Google announced in March 2022 that from 1 July 2023 standard Universal Analytics properties would no longer process any new data, with Google Analytics 4 taking over. That gave businesses only a little over a year to set up tracking again and start building history in GA4.
This post is one entry in our timeline series, where we go back through search, AI, advertising and social changes one month at a time to explain what they mean for local firms. We wrote it in November 2026, so we already know how things turned out. Here we look at what the move to GA4 meant for trades and local service firms.
What did Google announce in March 2022?
Google confirmed that GA4 was the future of its analytics. GA4 is built around events instead of sessions and is designed to measure people across devices while respecting privacy. Customers on Universal Analytics 360 were given a slightly later cut-off.
Why it mattered for local businesses
Lots of businesses put off the switch and lost the ability to compare this year with last. A roofer who only set up GA4 at the last minute, for example, had no previous year in GA4 to compare a busy spring against.
GA4 also changed the main reports, so owners and their marketers needed new dashboards and had to get used to measures like engagement rate and key events.
What to check in GA4 today
- Make sure GA4 records the actions that matter, such as quote requests, phone calls, bookings and sales, as key events.
- Link your GA4 property with both Search Console and your Google Ads account.
- Set up a simple dashboard with just the handful of numbers you really look at.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still get into my old Universal Analytics data?
No. Those properties, and the data in them, have since been deleted by Google. Only copies you exported or backed up are left.
What is a key event in GA4?
It is any event you flag as one that matters, for example a completed enquiry form or a sale. Google used to call these conversions.
Sources and further reading
Want help with this? We set up GA4 tracking for calls, forms and bookings through our analysis and reporting service. Get in touch.
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