]u[ Ubiquity will no longer support Google Analytics (GA) to monitor site usage for its journal, book, and repository platforms, and instead will be using the open-source provider Plausible.
The upcoming replacement of Google's legacy Universal Analytics service with its new Google Analytics (GA) 4 provided an opportunity for ]u[ Ubiquity to evaluate whether the Google service is suitable for its customers and aligned with ]u[ Ubiquity's core values. Concerns around storing, selling, and sharing users' data to advertisers as well as incompatibility with compliance regarding users' privacy rights initiated a thorough assessment of the Google Analytics service within ]u[ Ubiquity. As part of this analysis the availability of code and algorithm, speed and performance of the websites as well as data reliability and integration were also considered. Alternative providers were rigorously examined and Plausible was the winning provider.
A main driving factor for finding an alternative to GA was that a number of European countries have judged that Google's service is not GDPR compliant, with legislation from other regions also introducing similar restrictions (e.g. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) in the United Kingdom). As ]u[ Ubiquity customers and site users have a strong base within Europe, non-compliance with GDPR is a significant barrier to the use of Google service. The move to Plausible removes the issue of GDPR, or any other data compliance laws, as it has been built with privacy in mind.
A number of additional factors contributed to ]u[ Ubiquity's decision. The team believes that Plausible has a number of favourable features, such as a smaller script that reduces loading time and improves user experience, public API and integration options, and more accurate dataset curation and collection, without collecting personal data. Moreover, Plausible is an open source software, which fits ]u[ Ubiquity's mission to use open source software where possible. Supporting such platforms helps ensure the viability of community and user focused options to benefit our partners, while aligning well with the ]u[ Ubiquity customer charter, corroborating with its commitment to the values of openness.
Further details regarding ]u[ Ubiquity's decision can be found at https://medium.com/@ubiquitypress/u-ubiquity-platforms-move-to-plausible-for-monitoring-site-usage-42193b778db2