Integrating Google Analytics on Clarisights

Universal Analytics has been retired. Google stopped processing data in standard Universal Analytics properties on 1 July 2023 and in Universal Analytics 360 properties on 1 July 2024, and has since shut down access to Universal Analytics data and its API. Clarisights no longer offers Universal Analytics as a new connection and does not import any new Universal Analytics data. Use Google Analytics 4 instead.

This article explains what happens to an existing Universal Analytics (UA) connection in Clarisights and how to move your reporting to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

At a glance

Status	Retired. Replaced by the Google Analytics 4 integration
New connections	Not available. Universal Analytics is no longer shown under Set up new connection
Existing connections	Read-only view on the Integrations page; properties, views and the primary view can no longer be changed
Data freshness	No new data. Google no longer provides Universal Analytics data
Historical data	Data imported before the shutdown stays in Clarisights under the GA: metrics
Limited rollout	No longer applicable (retired)

What an existing connection shows

If your workspace connected Universal Analytics in the past, it still appears under Manage connected channels on the Integrations page. Opening it shows the Universal Analytics Accounts page with the message "Universal Analytics is deprecated. Please use Google Analytics 4 instead. This is a read-only view." You can still see each property, its views, and which view was the primary view, but you can't add properties, change views, or change the primary view.

Universal Analytics data that Clarisights imported before the shutdown remains available in reports that use it. Because no new data arrives, those metrics are empty for any date after your property stopped collecting data.

How historical data was joined

Universal Analytics data was keyed by these traffic dimensions on the primary view. They were used to join the data onto your ad channels rather than being stored as report columns:

Dimension	Description
Date	Hit date in the view's timezone
Source	Traffic source (ga:source)
Medium	Traffic medium (ga:medium)
Campaign	UTM campaign name (ga:campaign)
Ad Content	UTM content (ga:adContent)
Keyword	UTM term / search keyword (ga:keyword)
Device Category	Desktop / Mobile / Tablet
Country / Region / City	Geographic dimensions

Timeline

Date	What happened
1 July 2023	Standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing new data
1 July 2024	Universal Analytics 360 properties stopped processing new data, and Google began shutting down access to Universal Analytics reports and the API
Now	Universal Analytics is read-only in Clarisights; GA4 is the supported Google Analytics integration

Historical metrics

Universal Analytics data was joined onto your ad channels by matching UTM parameters (Source, Medium, Campaign, Ad Content, Keyword) on the property's primary view. The historical metrics are:

Metric	Description
GA: Visit	Total number of sessions
GA: New Users	First-time users in the period
GA: Bounces	Single-page sessions
GA: Bounce Rate	Bounces / Visits
GA: Leads	Lead conversions reported by Universal Analytics
GA: Revenue	Ecommerce revenue (in view currency)
GA: Transactions	Ecommerce transactions count
GA: RPV	Revenue per Visit (Revenue per Session)
GA: CVR	Conversion Rate
GA: CPL	Cost per Lead
GA: Avg Order Value	Average ecommerce order value

GA × Facebook joined metrics

Universal Analytics data joined to Facebook ad data produced these metrics:

Metric	Description
GA-FB: CPT	Cost per Transaction of the Facebook ad elements
GA-FB: CPV	Cost per Visit of the Facebook ad elements
GA-FB: CTR	Click-through Rate (Visits / Impressions) of the Facebook ad elements
GA-FB: ROAS	Return on Ad Spend (GA: Revenue / FB: Spend) of the Facebook ad elements
GA-FB: RPC	Revenue per Click (GA: Revenue / Clicks) of the Facebook ad elements

GA × AdWords joined metrics

Metric	Description
GA-AW: CPT	Cost per Transaction of the AdWords ad elements
GA-AW: CPV	Cost per Visit of the AdWords ad elements
GA-AW: CTR	Click-through Rate (Visits / Impressions) of the AdWords ad elements
GA-AW: ROAS	Return on Ad Spend (GA: Revenue / AW: Spend) of the AdWords ad elements
GA-AW: RPC	Revenue per Click (GA: Revenue / Clicks) of the AdWords ad elements

Universal Analytics goals

Each goal configured in the primary view was imported as a separate metric:

Metric	Description
GA: Goal-1 … GA: Goal-14	Each numbered goal as configured in the Universal Analytics view (Goal 1 through Goal 14, excluding Goal 13 which is reserved internally)

All of these follow the same rule: historical values only.

Moving your reporting to GA4

1. Connect GA4. In Clarisights, open Integrations, find the Google Analytics 4 card under Set up new connection and click + Connect. Sign in with the Google account that has access to your GA4 properties, then ask your CSM to complete the setup. See Connecting Google Analytics 4 on Clarisights for the full steps.

2. Swap metrics in your reports. GA4 metrics appear in the GA4 Base Metrics and GA4 Event Metrics groups. Replace UA metrics with their GA4 counterparts, for example GA: Visit with Sessions, GA: Revenue with Total Revenue, and GA: Transactions with Transactions. Goals become GA4 events (for example purchase or sign_up).

3. Update custom metrics. Any custom metric built on GA: metrics (for example a cost per visit) stops updating. Recreate it with the GA4 metric and click Create Custom Metric.

4. Keep UTM tagging consistent. GA4 joins to your ad channels on session source, medium, campaign, term and content, so the same UTM hygiene applies.

Tip: by default GA4 data in Clarisights starts a few days before your CSM completes the setup. If your GA4 property has been collecting data for longer, ask for a historical backfill so your GA4 trend lines cover the months before you switched, back to when the property started collecting data.

UA metrics and their closest GA4 counterparts

GA4 measures traffic differently from Universal Analytics (sessions are counted differently, and bounce rate is replaced by engagement), so expect numbers to differ even for equivalent metrics.

Universal Analytics metric	Closest GA4 metric	Notes
GA: Visit	Sessions	GA4 does not restart a session at midnight or when campaign parameters change, so session counts are usually lower
GA: New Users	New Users	Counted per GA4 property
GA: Bounces / GA: Bounce Rate	Engaged Sessions	GA4 reports engagement instead of bounces; a session that is not engaged is roughly a bounce
GA: Revenue	Total Revenue	Also available in the property currency as Total Revenue (Local)
GA: Transactions	Transactions	Requires GA4 ecommerce purchase events
GA: Goal-1 … GA: Goal-14, GA: Leads	Event metrics in GA4 Event Metrics	Mark the matching events (for example generate_lead or sign_up) in GA4 and ask your CSM to include them
GA-FB / GA-AW joined metrics (ROAS, CPV, CPT, RPC)	Custom metrics	Rebuild them as custom metrics, for example Total Revenue divided by Spend for ROAS

POD-GA channels

Some workspaces also used POD-GA: POD channels with Source Type = Google Analytics. Unlike the joined integration above, POD-GA brought Google Analytics in as a primary data source, with GA dimensions (Source / Medium, Landing Page, Device Category and so on) stored as columns you could group, filter, and pivot on. That made it useful for organic, SEO, influencer and other traffic that doesn't come from a paid ad channel.

POD-GA channels read from Universal Analytics views, so they no longer receive new data. Existing POD-GA channels and their historical data stay listed under Integrations → POD.

Primary vs Secondary data, in one example

When Clarisights imports a primary data source (e.g. an ad channel like Google Ads), we keep all of its metrics and dimensions. A row in Clarisights might look like:

Account	Campaign	Country	Device	Spend	Clicks
Google Ads (DE)	Holiday Sale	DE	Mobile	1,200	5,400

For a secondary source like Google Analytics, we drop the GA-side dimensions and use them as join keys instead. The same row, after GA is joined, looks like:

Account	Campaign	Spend	Clicks	GA: Visit	GA: Revenue
Google Ads (DE)	Holiday Sale	1,200	5,400	4,300	9,500

The GA dimensions (utm_source, utm_medium, Landing Page, Device, etc.) are no longer columns, because they were consumed during the join. The standard Google Analytics 4 integration works the same way, while a custom GA4 data source keeps the dimensions as columns, like POD-GA did.

GA4 options compared

	Google Analytics 4 integration	Custom GA4 data source
Replaces	The Universal Analytics integration	POD-GA channels
Source type	Secondary, joined onto your ad channels	Primary, its own data source in the report builder
GA4 dimensions stored	No, used as join keys only	Yes, the dimensions you choose
Metrics	Fixed base metrics plus event metrics	The GA4 metrics you choose
Captures organic / SEO / influencer / untracked traffic	No	Yes
Set up by	You sign in; your CSM completes the setup	Your CSM

For the same kind of dimension-rich reporting on GA4, ask your CSM to set up a custom GA4 data source with the metrics and dimensions you need. See Custom GA4 data sources.

Frequently asked questions

Can I reconnect Universal Analytics or add another view?

No. Google no longer provides Universal Analytics data, so new connections and changes to existing ones are switched off in Clarisights.

Why are my GA: metrics empty for recent dates?

Your Universal Analytics property stopped collecting data when Google retired it. Switch those widgets to GA4 metrics as described in Moving your reporting to GA4.

Will my historical Universal Analytics numbers match GA4 for the same period?

Usually not exactly. The two products count sessions and users differently. If you need a continuous trend across the switchover, compare periods within the same product, or annotate the switchover date in your report.

Can GA4 and my old Universal Analytics data sit in the same report?

Yes. Historical GA: metrics and the GA4 metric groups can be added to the same widget, which helps while you transition.

Need help?

When contacting support from the in-app messenger, please include:

• The Universal Analytics property / view ID you used and the GA4 property ID you are moving to

• The reports or custom metrics that still use GA: metrics

• Any POD-GA channels you want to replace with GA4