Digital Marketing
Google Analytics Risks and GDPR Compliant Alternatives
The Analytics Obsession
For as long as I have been working to develop websites, people have always wanted insights about their traffic and where it is coming from using analytics. As Google began to dominate in several industries, we started to see alternatives to Google Analytics either disappear or become prohibitively expensive. Eventually, our website launch checklist began to include adding Google Analytics, whether the client requested it or not. If it was not requested during development, clients would often come back months or years later asking if it had been installed.
GDPR Changes the Game
In 2018 the European Union introduced the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. It was designed to give individuals more control over their personal data and how it was used. Because websites can be accessed internationally, this law has far reaching consequences for anyone with a website.
Around that time, websites began showing pop-up bars asking visitors to accept cookies. Those were created to comply with GDPR and alert users that data was being collected. If your website can be accessed from the E.U. and you have Google Analytics installed, then your website should display one of these notices. If not, then you're not complying with GDPR.
When Your Competitor Benefits
Google is one of the largest collectors of personal data in the world. When you add it to your site, you allow Google to access information about your visitors. This is not only a concern for users, it can also have consequences for your business.
For example, imagine you have a website selling haunted snow globes. You install Google Analytics to track conversions and monitor traffic. When a potential customer visits your site, Google knows they are interested in haunted snow globes. The customer browses but decides to purchase later.
If you are paying Google for advertising, your ads may follow that customer around the internet reminding them to purchase. But if your visitor found you organically and you are not paying for a Google PPC campaign, your competitor might be.
Since you allowed Google to collect data about your customer, it now knows this person wants to buy haunted snow globes. It can then serve ads for your competitor’s products to that same customer. Now your competitor’s ads are following your prospect, promoting their less-haunted (and obviously inferior) snow globes!
You wouldn't hand a list of your leads over to your biggest competitor, but Google does.
The Complexity Problem
On top of this, most people find the Google Analytics backend confusing and difficult to interpret. Over the years, it has grown more complex, yet somehow less informative. Despite demand, there is still no easy way to generate clear, digestible reports within Google Analytics. Until recently, there have been very few affordable alternatives for measuring website traffic.
The good news is that many CMS platforms are now starting to add native analytics. GDPR has also spurred the development of new privacy focused analytics systems that are affordable and do not require annoying cookie consent pop-ups.
Privacy Focused Analytics Alternatives
If you are still relying on Google Analytics, now is the perfect time to explore new options. Privacy friendly analytics platforms are easier to use, more comprehensive and can generate automated email reports. This saves you the hassle of logging in and sifting through mountains of confusing data, while also helping make the internet a little less intrusive.
At Geary Company, we love helping our clients find solutions that make sense for their unique business needs. If you build a website with us, we’ll guide you toward tools that give you the insights you need. We can help you decide if giving your customer data away for free makes sense.
Some of our favorite privacy friendly alternatives to Google Analytics include:
Thanks to GDPR, new analytics platforms are popping up all the time. Google isn’t going anywhere, and in some cases it might still be the right choice. The difference now is that it’s no longer the only choice, and in 2025 you get to decide whether sharing your visitors’ data is really worth it.
