Since the announcement about Google ending support for Universal Analytics, it is required to shift to Google Analytics 4 and more opportunities to learn from the reports. This article will summarize the data aggregation methods that Google Analytics 4 is said to have changed significantly from Universal Analytics.
Introduction
App + Web Properties, which allows tracking across apps and the web, was released as a beta version and is now official as Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
The main reasons raised for GA4 are as follows:
1. To respond to major changes in consumer behavior.
2. to respond to the world’s growing emphasis on privacy
In recent years, with the rapid increase in the number of smartphone users, the medium used by users has expanded from the Web to mobile applications. With the current UA, access analysis for apps is difficult, and there is a problem of not being able to identify users across devices.
GA4 appeared in response to these changing times, and in order to grasp users who use all kinds of devices such as smartphones and apps and go through multiple platforms, it has become necessary to conduct access analysis across analysis of the complex consumption behavior and trends of users who move around websites and apps in all directions. This is because it has become necessary to analyze the complex consumption behavior and trends of users who move across websites, apps, and other platforms.
Therefore, GA4 offers the following advantages over traditional universal analytics.
- Users who browse the Web on a PC and then purchase from an mobile application can now be recognized as the same customer, even if they are using different devices.
- Now that we can measure on an event-by-event basis, more events can be measured automatically.
- BigQuery can be linked for free
- Enhanced machine learning analysis and insights to predict future behavior
As you can see from the above benefits, UA and GA4 have fundamentally changed the way data is measured: while UA converted data received in hits to session-based data, GA4 now collects it in events as user basis.
Data Type |
Universal Analytics (UA) |
Google Analytics 4(GA4) |
Page view |
Measure as page view |
Measure as events |
Events |
Measure as events |
Measure as events |
E-commerce |
Measure as E-commerce |
Measure as events |
Custom Dimension |
Measure as custom dimension |
Dimension per hit = Measured as an event
Dimension per user = user property |
GA4 enables user-oriented analysis, so that after a user visits a website or application, it is possible to understand the behavior of the user up to the point of conversion through repeat visits.
Acquisition: Are the users leading to conversions and revenue?
Conversion: Are users who made conversion actions leading to revenue?
Revenue: What are the behaviors of revenue-generating users on the website and app?
User retention: What are the behaviors of users who continue to use the website?
Before starting analysis with GA4, it is necessary to organize the purpose of the website, the purpose of using the data, and the target figures as a basic premise.
For example, for an e-commerce site, the objective is to sell products and services, and the target figures should include which products were purchased the most, which users made the most purchases, and the monthly purchase amount, etc. For a BtoB site, the objective is to collect user information that can be used by sales and find potential customers. For a BtoB website, the objective is to collect user information that can be used by sales and to discover potential customers, which may include the number of inquiries received, the number of documents downloaded, and the number of e-mail magazine subscriptions.
It is very important to have a purpose for the website, the purpose of using the data, and the target values, so that the values measured by GA4 can be evaluated and improved.