Adobe Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4 – Which is Best For Your Business?

Choosing the right analytics platform is crucial for businesses looking to gain valuable insights into their online activities. While Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Adobe Analytics are among the leading choices for comprehensive data analysis, understanding their respective advantages and disadvantages is key to making an informed decision that aligns with your business objectives and requirements.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Google Analytics 4

GA4 PROS:

1. Enhanced User-Centric Insights: GA4 provides a more user-centric approach to data analysis, enabling businesses to gain a deeper understanding of user behavior and engagement across various digital channels. Specifically, because Google is huge global advertising platform, there is a lot of functionality tailored to helping digital advertising professionals that Adobe Analytics lacks.
2. Pre-configuration: GA4 largely comes ready to track out of the box barring some minor setup such as conversions, etc. It offers robust (although limited) customization options for advanced users but also can drive actionable insights very quickly from setup.
3. Advanced Machine Learning Capabilities: With its advanced machine learning capabilities, GA4 allows businesses to uncover valuable insights and trends within their data, facilitating informed decision-making and strategy formulation.
4. Integrations: GA4 has far more ready-built integrations with other platforms such as Contentsquare and Demandbase. This is especially powerful when combined with the advertising functionality.

GA4 CONS:

GA4 also comes with some limitations, such as:

1. Limited Customization Options: GA4’s customization options are comparatively limited, which may pose challenges for businesses requiring highly tailored analytics solutions. This is because Google Analytics (remains) a ‘black box’, and it’s not clear how Google is processing/analyzing user data.
2. Steep Learning Curve for legacy users: If diving straight into digital marketing analytics, GA4 is an intuitive platform. However, users who are accustomed to the legacy platform could find the learning curve fairly steep as GA4 upends how things are tracked, where functionality resided in the platform, and more.
3. Limited Historical Data: You cannot (as of Nov 2023) easily import historical data from legacy Google Analytics into GA4, meaning you must combine legacy and new in a custom dashboard. See details here.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Adobe Analytics

Adobe PROS:

1. Robust Data Visualization and Reporting: Adobe Analytics provides comprehensive data visualization and reporting tools, enabling businesses to present complex data in a clear and concise manner.
2. Highly Customizable Features: With its extensive customization options, Adobe Analytics allows businesses to tailor their analytics solutions to their specific needs and preferences.

Adobe CONS:

However, Adobe comes with a few drawbacks, such as:

1. Complex Interface and Learning Curve: Adobe Analytics has a steep learning curve, and its complex interface may require dedicated training and expertise for effective utilization. This is far more pronounced than the transition from legacy Google Analytics to GA4. Many users will require Abode resources to ease the learning process.
2. Time Consuming Setup: Whereas GA comes with it’s ‘black box’ and can start measuring very quickly, Adobe must be built from the ground up. While a very basic setup can be achieved relatively easily, to fully leverage Adobe Analytics significant time and planning is required to implement the platform.
3. Costly Implementation and Maintenance: Unlike GA4, there are no ‘free tiers’ in Adobe, and implementing/maintaining Adobe Analytics can be costly, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses with limited budgets.

Final Thoughts on Selecting an Analytics Solution

Ultimately, it depends on where your business is in its life cycle plus what your business is focusing on. For example, a start-up B2C company could benefit from using GA4 at first, but then might want to switch to Adobe Analytics as the business has a better understanding of what metrics are most important.

On the other hand, an established B2B company would benefit enormously from being able to integrate digital marketing platforms into one singular analytics solution. And, a large company likely requires a thorough understanding of results from a large advertising program. This use-case would necessitate utilizing GA4 over Adobe Analytics.

The Avid Demand team is well-versed in all things Analytics, so if you have questions or want to discuss your marketing analytics needs, please reach out!

Logan Overstreet February 1, 2024

Logan is a Senior Marketing Analyst. at Avid Demand.  He specializes in data visualization, MOPS support, web analytics, and Performance Dashboards.