Umami, Right After Google Analytics Suddenly Terminated My Account

Today, I got the most frustrating email of my career. Google Analytics, the service I've been using for over five years to track my website's performance, suddenly informed me that they had terminated my account. Just like that. No warning, no explanation, nothing..

You know that feeling when someone forces something to you through a text message? That's exactly how it felt. The email was super short, just saying they "detected improper activity" in my account. What activity? When? How? These questions kept spinning in my head while I was trying to log in to my account, only to find out I couldn't access any of my data anymore.

The funny thing is, I hadn't made any changes to my website or analytics setup in months. Everything was working fine until that morning when I opened my inbox. As someone who relies on website data to make decisions, this was not just annoying, it was actually harmful to my work.

What's The Problem

The biggest issue isn't just losing access to GA. It was the complete lack of information about what went wrong. The email I received was like those automatic replies you get when you message a big company, cold, generic, and unhelpful. It simply mentioned "improper activity" without explaining what this activity was or when it happened.

I spent hours searching through Google's community forums, only to find others in the same situation. Some people had their accounts terminated without any clear reason, and most of them never got proper answers. It's quite shocking when you think about it, a company that knows so much about our online behavior can't even tell us why they're kicking us out!

I tried contacting their support team, but it felt like talking to a wall The support? Of course, just for paid customers. and all the same, referring to their Terms of Service without pointing out the specific violation. As a small "business" owner, this experience made me realize how dangerous it is to depend completely on a service that can cut you off without any proper explanation.

To Find An Alternative

After spending few hours being angry at Google, I knew I had to find another solution. My website couldn't stay without any analytics. But this time, I wanted something different. Something that wouldn't leave me hanging without explanation. Something that would give me more control over my data.

I started googling for "Google Analytics alternatives" and "privacy-focused analytics tools." There were quite a few options out there, Matomo, Plausible, Fathom, and others. But then I found Umami, and it caught my attention straight away.

What made me interested in Umami wasn't just that it was free and open-source. It was the simplicity of it all. No confusing setup process that makes you wonder if you're doing it right. And most importantly, no risk of sudden account termination because all the data stays on your own server.

The transition wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Sure, I had to learn a few new things, but isn't that always the case when you try something new? Plus, the Umami doc was really helpful and simple, unlike the frustrating experience I had with Google's support forums.

Why Umami?

After using Umami, I can honestly say that sometimes bad situations lead to better outcomes. Here's what makes Umami much better for my needs:

First of all, it respects privacy, both mine and my visitors'. There's no complex cookie notices needed, and no worries about GDPR compliance. It just collects the basic data that actually matters for my website. When I first saw Umami's dashboard, I was surprised by how clean and simple it looked. No overwhelming charts or confusing metrics, just the important stuff.

The best part? I own all my data now. It's stored on my server, and nobody can take it away from me. No more worries about waking up to find my analytics account terminated. Plus, Umami's really (really!) light, it doesn't slow down my website like Google Analytics did (something I never realized until I made the switch, of which I wished I had a screenshot).

Setting up Umami was pretty straightforward. Just add a simple script to your website, and you're good to go. No need to verify your site ownership, no need to accept long terms of service, and definitely no risk of getting banned for "improper activity" that nobody explains to you.

Hope it helps, if you needed to set it up for yourself, let me know, I'd be glad to help.