Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics

As Google Analytics 4 is about to take over, here are some differences and changes that you should know before starting using it.

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1. App Tracking GA4 enables the tracking of website as well as app data. This schema will make it easier combine data between website and mobile app.

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2. Measurement Model UA was recording user interactions in multiple hit types like page views, events, etc. Whereas in GA4 every user interaction is captured as an event.

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3. Sessions Calculations In UA, the amount of time that a user interacts with your website is referred to as a session. For GA4, the session start event produces a session ID that links all events that take place during the session.

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4. Bounce rate and engagement rate In UA, bounce rate was calculated as the % of website users that didn't view more than page on your website. In GA4, bounce rate is the inverse of engagement rate, which is the number of engaged sessions divided by the total number of sessions in a specified time period.

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5. Google Tag Manager UA could be used without Google tag Manager but with GA4 it is not possible. It is important now to be aware of GTM.

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6. Exports to BigQuery Exports to BigQuery are available to all properties in GA4, whereas it was limited to Analytics 360 properties in UA.

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