When Google Analytics Is Still the Right Choice

We build privacy-first analytics. It would be easy to write a post arguing everyone should switch. That would not be honest.

Google Analytics is genuinely the right tool for some use cases. Here is an honest assessment of when to stay on GA4.

When GA4 is the right tool

You use Google Ads and need conversion import

If you run Google Ads campaigns and measure their performance through conversion import in GA4, switching analytics tools means losing that connection. GA4's integration with Google Ads is deep and difficult to replicate with an independent tool.

If your advertising strategy depends on Google Ads attribution data, GA4 is likely still the right choice for that measurement.

You export to BigQuery for data analysis

GA4's BigQuery export gives you raw event-level data in a data warehouse. If your team uses SQL to analyse user behaviour, funnel drop-offs, or complex segmentation, this is a capability that most privacy-first tools — including Antlytics — do not currently match.

If your analytics workflow involves a data team running queries against a BigQuery dataset, staying on GA4 may be the right decision.

Your organisation mandates it

Some organisations — especially larger ones — have standardised on GA4 across all properties. The tools, training, and reporting are all built around GA. Switching one property while others stay on GA4 creates fragmentation in reporting.

If your organisation mandates GA4, the decision is not yours to make.

You actively use advanced features

GA4 has features that privacy-first tools typically do not offer:

Audience segments for remarketing
Predictive metrics (purchase probability, churn probability)
Cross-platform tracking (web + app)
Advanced funnel analysis with user-level data
Integration with Google Search Console for search performance data

If you actively use these features — not just have access to them — they may be worth the trade-offs of cookie-based tracking and consent overhead.

The honest hybrid approach

Running GA4 and a privacy-first tool in parallel is a valid approach, not an indecision. Use GA4 for the specific capabilities only it provides (Ads attribution, BigQuery export). Use Antlytics for general traffic visibility without cookie overhead.

This is not unusual. Many teams run multiple analytics tools for different purposes.

When you're just "used to it"

The most common reason people stay on GA4 is inertia — it is what they know, it is what their clients expect, and switching feels risky.

This is a legitimate reason, but it is worth distinguishing from a technical requirement. If you only use GA4 to look at pageviews, top pages, and referrers, inertia is the only thing keeping you there. Those metrics are available in simpler, privacy-first tools.

FAQ

Should I keep both GA4 and Antlytics running? Running both in parallel during a transition period is recommended. Long-term, running both permanently is valid if you use GA4 for specific capabilities that Antlytics does not offer.

Will my stakeholders accept a different tool? Most stakeholders care about the numbers, not the tool. Share a dashboard screenshot from Antlytics — the core metrics look familiar.

Is there a way to get some GA features in privacy-first analytics? Some GA features have privacy-first equivalents: conversion goals instead of goal events, UTM campaigns instead of GA campaign attribution. Others — BigQuery export, audience segments — do not have direct equivalents yet.