What Is Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics is an invaluable asset to any business that wants to measure and analyze user behavior. It helps companies boost their revenue by getting a deeper insight into their users.

Google Analytics 4 is the newest version of this popular analytics platform. It provides a new data model that helps marketers segment user interactions into more significant events.

Measurement

Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of their standard tracking solution, replacing Universal Analytics (UA). It's an entirely new platform with numerous improvements.

GA4 features a new data model that measures user engagement across websites and mobile applications. Machine learning helps uncover insights to give you a deeper insight into your customers.

Measurement in GA4 can be done through the Measurement Protocol API.

This API allows you to send events directly to Google Analytics servers through HTTP requests. It's an invaluable tool that lets you send and track data from any device or location.

Another way to measure results in GA4 is by utilizing its Enhanced Measurement suite of auto-tracking features. These tools enable marketers/analysts to collect more comprehensive events like page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, site search queries, video engagement scores and file downloads - all at no extra cost.

Reporting

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the newest version of their analytics software that allows you to measure and analyze website visitor behavior. This privacy-focused approach utilizes machine learning techniques in order to automatically provide helpful insights.

GA4 properties differ from Universal Analytics properties in that they employ an event-based data model to capture and store user interactions with your website or app. This includes pageviews, button clicks, and system events.

To begin, create a new GA4 property. Give it a name, select reporting time zone and equivalent currency, then click Next.

Once your property is acquired, you can begin collecting and analyzing data. As an example, let's connect Baidu as our first user source and add Event count as a metric.

This will enable us to view a report that displays how many sessions were triggered by our initial user source. Furthermore, we can filter the results by adding secondary criteria or selecting an individual user source. Doing so makes it simple for you to understand what motivates your most engaged visitors on your website or app.

Analysis

In today's digital marketing landscape, having a deep insight into user behavior is paramount for increasing revenue. The GA4 tool offers an abundance of data which can be utilized to optimize content and drive more sales.

Google Analytics 4 is an updated version of their analytics system that offers more accurate tracking and improved data accuracy. Additionally, it complies with global privacy regulations and can work both with or without cookies.

Universal Analytics relied solely on cookies to track user activity, while GA4 utilizes a machine learning model that tracks users across multiple devices and platforms. Plus, its design is more flexible, there are fewer data gaps, and you get improved insights for smarter marketing decisions.

Data analysis in Google Analytics 4 can be accomplished with a range of techniques and visualization types. To get started, select your desired technique from the Analysis Hub's Graph with magnifying glass icon.

Integrations

Google Analytics 4 offers a seamless integration with multiple media platforms to give you a comprehensive view of customer activity on your site and apps across devices, unlike Universal Analytics which simply redesigns or updates things.

Machine learning is at its core, helping you uncover insights and gain a more complete understanding of your customers. Plus, this service is free for both new and existing property owners alike!

This integration enables server-to-server data collection, so your information will be sent directly to Google's Measurement Protocol API. When registering the integration, you'll need to supply a Secret value.

GA4 requires that all event names contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores. You can learn more about this requirement in Google's Event Names documentation.

Setup

Note: Any E-dreamz clients that retain us for ongoing marketing or support services have already been upgraded to GA4. If you are not an active retainer client of ours, and you have not already upgraded to GA4 yourself, you should consider doing so now. As of July 1, 2023, Analytics will no longer collect data through the former Universal Analytics property. 

Google's Guide for Adding GA4 to an Existing Analytics Account