Google announced on 6 July, that GA4 properties are now supported on Search Console Insights. Up to now, only Universal Analytics (UA) properties were supported which meant a gap in data for those those with GA4 properties. Google’s update has now fixed this.
Search Console Insights, launched in June 2021, provides an overview of how your content is performing. It shows you how people discover your content, how different pieces of content are resonating with your audience, and more.
Google will sunset Universal Analytics in July 2023, and so has been encouraging users to move to GA4. This update is part of the process to prepare for this.
Google says UA has become obsolete due to advances in web technology. GA4 will be able to provide cross-platform insights, does not rely exclusively on cookies and has “privacy at its core”, for example not storing IP addresses.
All standard UA properties will stop processing hits on 1 July 2023, so you have just under a year to make the switch. UA 360 properties have an extra three months, no hits will be processed after 1 Oct 2023.
If you don’t see data for your GA4 properties in Search Console Insights after this update, there may be a few reasons why:
- Your GSC property is not associated with a GA property
- You do not have sufficient permissions on GA
- You have the wrong GA view selected in GSC
Google’s help page gives technical details on how to fix these issues and also answers frequently asked questions relating to the data in SC Insights.
Switching to GA4
The transition to GA4 is a complex process so it’s wise to tackle this sooner rather than later. You may also consider whether to do this in-house or employ someone for the task. Google has published detailed help on making the switch.
