GA4

Ga4, or Google Analytics 4, is Google’s analytics platform for collecting and analyzing user interactions across websites and mobile apps. Designed as the successor to Universal Analytics, GA4 emphasizes cross-platform measurement, a privacy-conscious data model, and flexible event-based data collection to provide a unified view of user behavior.

GA4 uses an event-based data model where most interactions are recorded as events with associated parameters, rather than the traditional pageview-centric model. Data streams represent sources such as a website or mobile apps (iOS and Android) and feed into a single GA4 property, enabling cross-device and cross-platform analysis. The model supports custom events, user properties, and automatic collection of certain events through enhanced measurement.

Features and analysis available in GA4 include enhanced measurement, which automatically captures standard interactions like page scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, and video engagement; customizable events and conversions; and reporting tools for user lifecycle, funnel, and retention analysis. GA4 also supports segmentation and audience-building for marketing activation, integration with Google Ads, and optional exporting to BigQuery for advanced analytics.

Privacy, compliance, and limitations: GA4 places a strong emphasis on user privacy, offering controls for data retention, user properties, and consent mode to align with evolving regulations and cookieless environments. Because GA4 uses a different data model from Universal Analytics, reports and data comparisons may differ from prior implementations. Transition guidance from Google has emphasized adopting GA4 as the future of analytics while maintaining existing UA configurations where applicable during the transition.

Usage notes: Setting up GA4 requires creating data streams for each platform, configuring events and conversions, and linking to other Google services. It is used by digital teams to understand user journeys, optimize marketing, and support analytics for both web and app environments in a single property.