Knowledge
A tag without a receiver: Universal Analytics has counted nothing since 1 July 2023.
Many sites still send to Universal Analytics - to an address Google closed on 1 July 2023. The numbers in the old report are frozen, the new ones arrive nowhere. Here is how to recognise it, and how to migrate.
Updated: 22 August 2026
How to recognise it
Your site's source contains a tracking ID. If it starts with UA- and there is none with G-, the site sends only to Universal Analytics - since 1 July 2023, to no one. analytics.js as a script source is a UA marker too.
What GA4 does differently
GA4 counts events, not sessions: page view, click, form, purchase - everything is an event with parameters. That is more flexible but empty without setup: goals that map your business have to be defined. A GA4 without business events is a counter, not a steering instrument.
How to migrate cleanly
- Create a GA4 property, set up a data stream for the website.
- Embed the tag via Tag Manager - not directly in the source - with Consent Mode v2 in front.
- Define the three to five events that count for your business: inquiry, booking, purchase, call.
- Remove old UA snippets. A tag without a receiver costs load time and creates confusion.
- Export historical UA data if you need it - Google has discontinued access to old reports.
Common questions
Can I compare old UA data with GA4?
Only to a degree. Sessions and events are counted differently; comparisons across the cut-over date are approximations. A clean restart with the events that count today makes more sense.Is GA4 enough as a dashboard?
For web data, yes. For the number that counts in the end - margin, occupancy, completion - you need operations data next to it. That is the step from analytics to a dashboard.
Check this on your site
The analyzer reads your website in a minute and shows whether exactly this point holds on yours.
Analyse your website