WHAT IS NEW IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 PROPERTIES

BigQuery Export: GA4 includes a free integration with Google BigQuery for the first time ever. I strongly believe this is the biggest update to Google Analytics ever. Previously, this integration was only available for Google Analytics 360 (enterprise version). The BigQuery integration allows you to get your raw event data directly into a data warehouse, which opens up the ability to do predictive analytics, machine learning models and near-endless customization. It includes a new streaming export within seconds, which is significantly faster than the current export for GA360 that is updated every 10-15 minutes. You also have the option to choose where you want to store your data to comply with your data governance frameworks. Google also ensured the export works with the BigQuery sandbox, allowing you to get started for free.

Google BigQuery is a cloud-based big data analytics web service for processing very large read-only data sets.

BigQuery was designed for analyzing data on the order of billions of rows, using a SQL-like syntax. It runs on the Google Cloud Storage infrastructure and can be accessed with a REST-oriented application program interface (API).

Funnnels: Also, for the first time, Google Analytics now has funnels available for everyone. Previously, Google Analytics had very rigid funnels in the standard version, with only GA360 providing meaningful funnels. GA4 properties now provide that funnel feature previously available in GA360 to all users. You can build custom funnels on the fly that are retroactive, segmentable and allow you to create audiences for deeper exploration or activation.

The analysis is one of the most important and exciting additions for GA4. The Analysis module contains techniques for pathing, funnels, segment overlaps, and ad-hoc analysis used to only live in the enterprise version (GA360). For the first time, all users of Google Analytics can create a meaningful funnel

Funnel analysis lets you visualize the steps your users take to complete a task and quickly see how well they are succeeding or failing at each step. For example, how do prospects become shoppers and then become buyers? How do one-time buyers become repeat buyers? With this information, you can improve inefficient or abandoned customer journeys.

One of the good funnel reports in Google Analytics was related to Enhanced Ecommerce.

With the rise of GA4, Google attempts to fix this issue by providing a Funnel analysis report. It allows you to build funnel reports on the fly (as long as you have been already collecting events for a while).

Want to see how many visitors go from viewing a product to the purchase? Done. Want to include/remove a certain step in the funnel? No problem. This sounds like the bare minimum a funnel report should have but this was a headache in Universal Analytics.

Time: Answering questions about how long it takes your users to take actions in the standard version of Google Analytics can be very challenging. Universal Analytics was really only designed to easily answer how much time elapsed between page views or how long an entire visit was. With GA4, we can now easily answer how long it took your users to do almost anything. Check out this new elapsed time feature in the new funnels report. There are also other changes with the introduction of engaging sessions, engagement time, and other metrics.

Improved Identity Management: The reporting identity in GA4 properties is completely different than what exists in Universal Analytics. GA used to force you to choose between analyzing your users based on their anonymous IDs in one place or using a different view where you could use your own UserIDs. GA4 takes a completely new approach and also provides a huge upgrade. By default, it now uses all identities at once, taking a waterfall approach. GA4 uses your own UserIDs first. If those aren’t available, it will use Google Signals (Google’s Identity Graph). And if those aren’t available, it falls back to the anonymous device IDs. A huge addition is Google Signals, which can now power all your reports and will be beneficial to users who don’t have their own UserIds (logged-in users). You can also change between the reporting identities in the screenshot below at any time since the setting is ad-hoc, retroactive, and doesn’t make any permanent changes to your data.

New Pathing Capabilities: GA4 properties can now create meaningful pathing reports and perform analysis that was not possible in Google Analytics. Here is an example from Analysis, where we are creating a backward pathing report. You can select any event/page as the endpoint and then work backward for the most common paths.

Measurement Protocol Updates: A new version of the measurement protocol for GA4 was just released. Measurement protocol can be used to send data from any connected device, including your own servers, Apple TVs, or a smart refrigerator. The best update so far over Universal Analytics is the addition of the new secrets, which should help avoid spam that was heavily used in sending spam to GA. In addition, dispatching now allows for up to 48 hours to send late-arriving data.

Realtime Debugging: Debug-View, carried over from Google Analytics for Firebase, is now available for all users. You can easily enable this by simply using the Google Analytics Debugger Chrome Extension or setting the debug-mode parameter in Google Tag Manager or g-tag. You can drill into any event in Debug-View to see all the relevant event data and properties, which will make it easier to track down implementation issues.

Simpler Configuration Settings: Many GA4 features are designed to be simpler and reduce the time it takes to implement. The image below shows the new cross-domain tracking feature for GA4. Previously, you couldn’t enable cross-domain tracking without doing a code update on your site or within Google Tag Manager. With GA4, you can fully enable cross-domain tracking directly in the UI. You simply list the domains you want to link and you can move on with your day. 

Simpler Configuration Settings: Many GA4 features are designed to be simpler and reduce the time it takes to implement. The image below shows the new cross-domain tracking feature for GA4. Previously, you couldn’t enable cross-domain tracking without doing a code update on your site or within Google Tag Manager. With GA4, you can fully enable cross-domain tracking directly in the UI. You simply list the domains you want to link and you can move on with your day. 

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