谷歌Analytics 4的争议与用户反馈

本文探讨了谷歌Analytics 4（GA4）在数字营销领域引发的争议，用户对其界面、数据延迟和使用难度等问题的反馈，以及对教育资源不足的质疑。

Google Analytics 4（GA4）自推出以来在数字营销领域引发了不少争议。事实上，很多广告商已经对这一新版本“ Funerated”（funeral的谐音），甚至有广告商甚至为移除万用分析工具（Universal Analytics, UA）迁移数据到GA4而举办葬礼。

但GA4到底有什么问题让整个数字营销界如此不满？我们最近在GA4测试问卷调查中询问了读者，以下是大家最常抱怨的问题清单。

1. 用户界面

GA4的用户界面无疑是最大的问题是所有GA4用户最常抱怨的内容。很多用户形容界面“迟钝”、“令人讨厌”，还有人甚至说它是“垃圾”。

独立的数据和营销顾问John Erikson告诉我们：

“在选择段落/维度时，GA4相比UA来说要麻烦得多。你必须打开自定义化或添加比较功能，点击添加过滤器，从一个很长的下拉菜单中选择维度，然后从另一个下拉菜单中选择值，然后再应用（只能选择一个）。

“ granted it is only a few seconds difference, but when you look at many different patterns every day, it becomes frustrating to repeat those excess UI moves over and over when you used to do it faster。”

“ same dropdown structure is used in creating/editing GA4 reports. The dropdown lists are long and it is hard to find what you are looking for. You can type in partial names and more quickly find them once you know them, but initially it is very hard to scroll through them all and find what you want.

“ Also, you can only select one so it is hard to look at multiple dimensions/values. I don’t know the answer to fixing this, but I do find it clumsy to use.”

2. 数据滞后

另一个让广告商们感到困扰的问题是GA4在同一天的数据延迟。很多广告商强调他们需要实时监控绩效，而GA4让他们感到困惑。

Actian的高级副总裁John Weber表示：

“The data latency is a joke, taking 12-24 hours to report on what is happening prevents this from being an actionable tool.”

“I wish I wasn’t backlogged for the past few years and thus could/would have realized this before。”

“Maybe Google will just move the computing power from UA -> GA4 so that this will change? [praying]!”

3. 数据不一致

很多广告商对GA4的数据差异性表示担忧。数据差异导致一些人质疑GA4的准确性，从而怀疑其可信度。

一位匿名的广告商告诉我们：

“What I find problematic is the discrepancy between GA4 API and the respective Looker Studio Connector. Dimensions that are present in the API and even per default in the GA4 reporting interface are apparently missing in the Looker Studio connector, e.g. Landing Page dimension.”

“The Google Team seems to work on that, because at least the landing page dimension is now present. But that also means that I have to minus two days before UA data collection comes to an end – then adjust and check my numerous reports again and again.

“I am as ready as the tool is, but I certainly do not look forward to working solely with GA4. I am also thinking about looking for alternative tools to GA4。”

4. 使用起来太难

无论多么经验丰富的广告商都抱怨GA4难以使用。即使是资深的广告商在尝试适应新平台时也感到吃力。

SEO和营销顾问Jason McDonald告诉我们：

“GA4 is a disaster. It is so much harder to use than UA, and completely non-intuitive.”

“It is nearly impossible to drill down by clicking as was possible than UA.

“It is the Windows Vista of Google Analytics, and all the cognoscenti are afraid to say publicly that it is garbage. But everyone knows it is garbage.”