Why fast answers from Google Analytics are gone

In this episode of Datadrivet, Joni Lindgren and Jasmin Yaya talk to David Jurelius, who brings more than ten years in measurement, web analytics, Google Analytics, Firebase, and SEO, with past roles at Hemnet, Aftonbladet, TV4, and C More. The subject is the groundwork that has to exist before you run experiments: tracking, cookie deprecation, ITP, and the reality of users on many devices and platforms.

On testing itself, the hosts and David are skeptical of testing for the sake of it. A good A/B test analysis looks at both the metric you targeted and the bigger goals behind it, like conversion and loyalty, because a test rarely improves every metric at once. David also warns against adopting a feature just because a competitor has it, without data to back the choice.

Some things are genuinely hard to measure, and the episode does not pretend otherwise. The impact of SEO URL structure, brand awareness, and tests where the objective itself is fuzzy all resist clean measurement. The discussion frames testing as three layers of a service: the client layer (UI elements such as button color), the backend or server (rendering personalized content), and the content itself (different headlines to drive engagement). Knowing which layer you are testing keeps the test honest.

Much of the conversation is about why tracking got harder. Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention removes third-party cookies and blocks following a user’s journey over time. It grew out of browsers distrusting how advertising platforms handled data, and it predated regulations like GDPR and CCPA. The practical effect is that the quick lookup people relied on no longer gives a clean answer. David points to Simo Ahava’s writing on server-side Google Tag Manager and Google’s own server-side documentation for the way forward, plus cookiestatus.com for tracking what each browser blocks.

The takeaway is that trustworthy testing now depends on getting tracking and infrastructure right first. The fast answer is gone, so the work moves upstream, into how data is collected before any test begins.

Listen to the full episode of Datadrivet for David’s detail on ITP, server-side tagging, and what to fix first.