Whether you are managing a small blog or a large online shop, understanding how users are interacting with your site is a key element of success. With web analytics, you can accurately collect, analyse and interpret website traffic data, allowing you to make better business decisions and guide your site’s growth more effectively. However, choosing the right analytical tool, especially in the context of increasing data privacy requirements, is becoming increasingly complex.
How do web analytics tools make the day-to-day work of a marketer and analyst easier? How can Piwik PRO and Google Analytics 4 support decision-making processes in compliance with data privacy regulations? What are the main advantages of both tools and which one best suits your organisation’s needs? Find the answers to these questions in this article.
Privacy regulations and analytical tools
Regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the US have forced companies to take a more rigorous approach to managing users’ personal data. Traditional analytical tools, such as Google Analytics, have been challenged to adapt to the new requirements. In response, alternatives have emerged — such as Piwik PRO — which place particular emphasis on data privacy.
Piwik PRO stands out from other analytical tools in terms of compliance with privacy regulations. It includes a built-in consent manager that enables easy collection and management of data processing consents. In this way, users have full control over their data and companies can be rest assured that it is collected in compliance with applicable regulations.
Google Analytics 4 also offers integration features with CMP (Content Management Platform) tools that take on privacy regulation topics. GA4 enables data anonymisation and works with consent management tools; however, data is stored in Google’s data centres, which can be challenging for companies operating in regions with restrictive data localisation laws.
Functions comparison
Piwik PRO and Google Analytics 4 are powerful website traffic analysis tools that approach data collection and processing differently.
How do Piwik PRO and Google Analytics 4 work?
Piwik PRO provides a comprehensive analytics package with a focus on data privacy and compliance with regulations such as GDPR. It enables full control over data, offering the ability to host it in a variety of locations, including data centres in the European Union. For example, a company in the financial industry can host its data in a country with strict privacy laws, facilitating compliance with local regulations.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the successor to Universal Analytics, introduces a new event-based data model. GA4 focuses on tracking user interactions through events, providing more flexible and detailed data on user behaviour. For eCommerce, for example, GA4 can be used to track all purchase events, allowing for more detailed analyses of the purchase path.
However, it is worth noting that for eCommerce, in its basic configuration Piwik Pro only tracks four events: Item Display, Add to Cart, Remove from Cart and Purchase. Configuring the remaining ecommerce events can be a challenge compared to GA4, which allows for more detailed tracking of the purchase path of users on the site.
Feature comparison: Piwik Pro vs GA4
Data model:
Piwik PRO uses a traditional session model to track user interactions within a single session. This is an intuitive model for those used to Universal Analytics. For example, a blog owner can analyse how long users stay on the site and which posts are most read within a single session.
As I mentioned, Google Analytics 4 uses an event-based model, where each interaction (e.g. click, page transition) is treated as a separate event. This is more flexible, but at the same time can be more difficult for new users to understand. For example, a marketing agency can track specific events, such as ad clicks or contact form interactions, allowing for more detailed analysis of marketing campaigns.
Reporting features:
Piwik PRO offers a full range of ready-made reports that can be easily customised. It also allows the creation of custom reports, the use of heat maps and cohort reports. An example would be an e-commerce company using heat maps to analyse which elements of the site attract the most attention from users.
Google Analytics 4 also offers reporting features, but requires more advanced configuration, especially when tracking custom events and parameters. For example, a technology company can use custom events in GA4 to track specific interactions in mobile apps to better understand how users are using its products.
Personalisation and configuration flexibility:
Piwik PRO provides users with greater flexibility to configure and personalise the tool. You can customise how data is collected, what data is stored and for how long. For example, a non-profit organisation customises Piwik PRO to collect only the data necessary for its operations, minimising the risk of privacy breaches.
GA4, while offering a wide range of customisation options, may require more advanced technical expertise to realise its full potential. For example, a marketing company may need expert support to set up complex event tracking and integrate data from different sources, such as Google ads or social media.
Data control
Data control has become an essential part of organisations’ information management strategies. It is no longer enough to simply collect and analyse data – it is also necessary to ensure its security and compliance with privacy regulations.
Data hosting options
Piwik PRO offers extensive data hosting options in a variety of locations, including a private cloud, allowing companies to store data in selected regions. Google Analytics stores data in its own data centres according to the user’s geolocation. For more advanced data transfer and collection settings, GA4 uses server-side GTM solutions.
Flexibility in data management
Both Piwik Pro and GA4 users have the ability to customise how data is collected, processed and stored. The tools also allow the creation of customised reports and integration with other analytics and business intelligence tools, significantly increasing the ability to analyse data and understand user behaviour.
Access to raw data
An undoubted advantage of Piwik Pro is the function for direct access to raw data. In addition, it enables data export in CSV format and integration with advanced analytical tools such as BigQuery. This flexibility allows companies to analyse data in greater depth and generate reports on how users interact with the site.
The same applies to Google Analytics 4, which provides integration with BigQuery in its standard offering, but offers access to raw data only in the premium version (GA4 360).
Technical support and usability
Technical support and ease of use are extremely important when choosing an analytics tool – especially for companies that do not have a large technical team. Both Piwik PRO and Google Analytics 4 offer different levels of technical support and educational resources, making it much easier for users to use these tools.
Piwik PRO provides a wide range of support services, including access to detailed online documentation, dedicated account managers and assistance from technical support specialists. Additionally, Piwik PRO Enterprise guarantees 24/7 support and additional access to personalised training. Google Analytics 4 also offers technical support, but the extent of its availability depends on the plan selected. Users of the free version have access to extensive documentation, tutorial videos and a community forum where they can get help from other users. For customers of the premium version (GA360), expert support is available, as well as the possibility to use technical support services.
Piwik PRO’s interface is similar to that of classic Google Analytics (UA), making the tool an easy transition for users accustomed to working with Google services. GA4, due to the fact that it introduces a new event-based model, can be somewhat difficult to use — especially for users accustomed to the session-based Universal Analytics model. The GA4 interface is different from its predecessor and requires both time and learning.
The future of web analytics
As technology and privacy laws evolve, web analytics is facing new challenges. One of the most important trends is the phasing out of third-party cookies, which have been the basis of many analytical tools. These changes have a significant impact on the way user data is analysed and collected.
Impact of cookie withdrawal on analytics
Traditional methods of tracking users via third-party cookies are becoming less and less effective due to increasing privacy awareness and new regulations such as the aforementioned GDPR and CCPA. Google Analytics 4 is taking steps to reduce its reliance on cookies by using machine learning-based data modelling, which allows for greater privacy in data collection.
Piwik PRO is focused on protecting user data from the outset, making it resilient to changes in privacy laws. The tool does not use third-party cookies and provides full control over user data.
Summary
Both Piwik PRO and Google Analytics 4 are advanced analytical tools that offer different approaches to data analysis and user privacy management. In the article, I discussed crucial differences between these tools in several key areas. These differences can significantly impact the day-to-day work of marketers and analysts. The best way to determine a winner will be to test both tools to ultimately choose the one that suits your organisation’s individual needs.
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