Why fast answers from Google Analytics are gone

In this episode of Datadrivet, Joni Lindgren and Jasmin Yaya talk to David Jurelius. David has 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 users spread over many devices and platforms.

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

The impact of SEO URL structure, brand awareness, and tests with a fuzzy objective all resist clean measurement.

The episode splits testing into three layers of a service. The client layer covers UI elements such as button color. The backend or server layer covers rendering personalized content. The content layer covers 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.

For the way forward, David points to Simo Ahava’s writing on server-side Google Tag Manager and Google’s own server-side documentation. For what each browser blocks, he points to cookiestatus.com.

Trustworthy testing now depends on getting tracking and infrastructure right first.

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