Matomo Analytics: An alternative to GA4
Matomo Analytics is an open-source web analytics platform, alternative to Google Analytics 4, focused on privacy protection. GDPR-compliant and recommended by the CNIL, Matomo guarantees full data ownership.
It's possible to self-host Matomo on your own server for free, or alternatively pay a subscription to Matomo Cloud.
Why choose Matomo?
Matomo stands out with several major advantages that make it a relevant choice for your data analytics needs. Let’s explore in detail the aspects that make Matomo a unique solution.
Open-source
Matomo is a free and open-source software, giving users total freedom to use, edit, share and study the code. Protected by the GPL (General Public License) v3, this software will always remain free and accessible, preventing any drift towards a proprietary model.
Matomo is distinguished by its active community, which contributes to the security, reliability and evolution of the software. It embodies the principles of free software, defending users' technological autonomy.
No data sampling
Data sampling in Google Analytics 4 can result in inaccurate reports, which can lead to erroneous and costly business decisions.
For example, if you have 5 million views, only 500,000 will be accurately analyzed. Matomo, on the other hand, guarantees total data accuracy without sampling, providing a solid basis for informed decisions.
100% data ownership
Matomo enables customers to retain full ownership of their data without the intervention of external sources. The tool ensures that information remains in the hands of website owners and their visitors.
Privacy and GDPR compliance
With mechanisms such as IP address anonymization, DoNotTrack compliance, integrated GDPR tools, use of proprietary cookies and data deletion on demand, Matomo respects the privacy of your visitors.
Data is stored in the EU or in the user's country of choice. In addition, Matomo is approved by the CNIL to collect data with consent exemption under a specific configuration (opens in a new tab).
Why Matomo in Server-Side?
Bypass ad blockers
Ad blockers (such as uBlock) block the loading of the Matomo script (matomo.js), even though Matomo has nothing to do with ad tracking.
Switching to server-side allows you to bypass this problem.
Data governance
Reminder: data governance is a set of practices, processes and policies that govern data management within an organization.
By sending data to your own server, you can delete, alter or add data before sending it to Matomo. This allows great flexibility in managing your organization's data.
Improve page loading time
Server-side tracking improves your website's loading time by shifting the processing of tracking scripts from the browser to the server. This reduces the number of requests and resources required to load on the user's browser, which in turn reduces page weight and accelerates page display.
Next Step
Now that you know more about Matomo and the advantages of configuring it on the server-side, we'll move on to configuring the Matomo Analytics tag.