Google to sunset Optimize at the end of September
Google has announced that it will remove Google Optimize on 30 September 2023.
This will apply to both the free and paid 360 tiers. Any tests or experiences that are still running on this date will come to an end. If your contract with Optimize 360 currently extends beyond this, it will automatically be adjusted to end on 30 September and you won’t be charged past this end date.
You can continue to run personalisations and experiments until then, but we recommend that you prepare for the switch off by downloading your historical data from Optimize and collating your results as soon as possible. You will be unable to access any of your test or experience inference results once the product is discontinued.
To replace this valuable tool, Google intends to integrate A/B testing (and other functions which help you improve user experiences) from third-party platforms into their new version of Analytics, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which is set to replace Universal Analytics from 1 July 2023.
Google intends GA4 to become a central hub through which to measure and analyse the test results from these integrations. This means that organisations which rely on Optimize may need to find an alternative, third-party solution before the product is turned off. Google intends to share more details about GA4 integrations over the coming months, and we will continue to keep you updated.
It is also worth noting that Google says Firebase Testing will not be impacted by this change, even though it uses some of the Optimize infrastructure.