Recently, I’ve received feedback from clients experiencing unexpected drops in their Google Analytics figures. Many of these clients transitioned from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) while simultaneously implementing stringent GDPR-compliant cookie policies. With these new policies in place, no cookies are stored unless a user provides explicit consent by clicking the “accept cookies” button. Consequently, no data is transmitted to Google Analytics until that consent is granted.
This situation led to numerous discussions, with some clients doubting this was the reason for the data discrepancies. They felt that perhaps the site administrators weren’t fully conversant with the nuances of GA4.
To address these concerns and provide transparency, I developed a WordPress plugin. This tool quantifies the number of users who have accepted Google Analytics cookies versus those who haven’t, offering a clearer perspective on user behaviors and analytics data.