Google doesn't need GA data. They know how many times people see sites in search results, how many people click them, and if people go back to make the same search again.
Besides, GA data is easily faked. I can give a site a low bounce rate or make it look like people spend a long time on a page. Google can't trust their own Analytics data because of this since it is client provided.
Sounds like a myth non-SEO people believe because, again, I've never even heard this before. And SEOs believe a lot of myths but this one is just too stupid
Do you have any support that it’s not a myth, other than…”a lot of people are saying…”? I mean, burden’s on the one making the claim, not the other way around.
There are literally "a lot of people saying" it isn't a myth, I've heard them, and one guy saying it is a myth and is an expert ... so, seems like that expert could straighten the issue out for us?
I mean, the burden is on both sides here but one has "been in SEO for a while".
People will do an update on their site, which includes removing GA, then blame GA exclusively for tanking their rankings. All of which is probably coincidental to an algorithm change that was going to de-rank them anyways
I've been in SEO for a while and there are a lot of myths but I've never heard anything quite this wrong before.