Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the new version of Google’s data analysis platform, designed to offer users a more comprehensive and integrated view of their online activities.
With GA4, Google has revolutionised how users can track, analyse and optimise their web traffic and customer interactions.
Contents
- 1 What are the most innovative features of Google Analytics 4, and what are its benefits?
- 2 An event-driven approach
- 3 Website and app integration
- 4 Towards machine learning
- 5 Privacy-first and GDPR compliance
- 6 Improved conversion analysis
- 7 G4 in compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA
- 8 However, what are GA4’s capabilities regarding compliance with privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?
- 9 The GDPR and the CCPA
- 10 GA4 and GDPR compliance
- 11 IP anonymisation
- 12 Data Deletion
What are the most innovative features of Google Analytics 4, and what are its benefits?
Here are some valuable tips on how to make the most of them to grow your business.
An event-driven approach
One of the main differences between GA4 and previous versions is the event-driven approach.
Instead of focusing on ‘hits’, as in previous versions, GA4 focuses on ‘events’, i.e., the actions users take on your website or app.
This provides a more detailed view of user behaviour and a better understanding of the interactions between users and the brand.
Google Analytics 4 (G4) uses an event-oriented data collection and analysis approach. This means that instead of recording page views, G4 records events that occur on the website or application.
An event in G4 is a single action the user performs on the website or application. Events can include clicking a button, playing a video or completing a form.
Events can also be customised to record specific actions that are important to the activity of the website or application.
G4’s event-oriented approach offers several advantages over the page-based approach used in earlier versions of Google Analytics, such as:
- Greater flexibility: the event-oriented approach allows a wide range of user actions to be recorded, not just page visits. This means that more precise data can be collected on the user’s navigation on the website or application.
- More detailed analyses: the event-driven approach allows user behaviour to be analysed more thoroughly. For example, the conversion rate can be analysed for specific events such as completing a purchase or filling in a form.
- Better integration with other data sources: the event-oriented approach allows Google Analytics data to be easily integrated with other data sources, such as CRM or social media.
G4’s event-driven approach offers greater flexibility and precision in collecting and analysing user data, allowing users to gain a more comprehensive view of user behaviour and make informed decisions based on the data collected.
Website and app integration
GA4 unifies data analysis between the website and mobile app, providing a holistic view of user interactions across all platforms. This provides a more accurate understanding of the customer journey, regardless of the device they use to interact with the brand.
Google Analytics 4 (G4) offers greater integration between website and app. This means you can get a unified view of user behaviour across multiple devices and platforms.
To integrate the website and the app in G4, you need to use the same GA4 property for both. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the events recorded on the website and app comply with the GA4 event specification.
Once the website and the application have been integrated into G4, you can use the analysis capabilities of GA4 to obtain a unified view of user behaviour on both platforms. You can monitor the conversion rate and user behaviour on both platforms and identify any problems or opportunities for improvement.
The increased integration between website and app in G4 allows you to use Google advertising features more effectively, such as remarketing ads to reach users who have visited the website or used the app on both platforms.
Towards machine learning
Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning to provide automated insights and forecast future trends.
Using artificial intelligence, GA4 can identify patterns and emerging trends, helping you make informed decisions and proactively optimise your marketing and customer acquisition strategies.
Google Analytics 4 (G4) is increasingly moving towards using machine learning to analyse data and provide detailed and relevant information to users.
In particular, G4 uses machine learning to automatically detect opportunities for improvement and trends in user behaviour and suggest specific actions to improve website or application performance.
G4 uses machine learning to create a model of user behaviour, which can be used to identify anomalies or unusual user behaviour. This can help users identify problems with the website or application and make the necessary changes to improve usability.
G4 uses machine learning to provide detailed information about user behaviour, such as browsing and purchasing preferences, and to suggest specific actions to improve the performance of the website or application. For example, G4 may mean changing the layout of the website or application to enhance the user experience.
In addition, G4 offers advanced analysis capabilities that use machine learning to analyse data and provide detailed information about the performance of the website or application. For example, to identify the causes of high cart abandonment rates or to suggest the most effective keywords for advertising.
Privacy-first and GDPR compliance
With GA4, Google paid particular attention to user privacy and GDPR compliance. The platform offers several tools that give users more control over the data they collect and how it is used. GA4 adapts to the cookie restrictions imposed by various browsers, ensuring more reliable and privacy-compliant data collection.
Improved conversion analysis
Google Analytics 4 offers improved conversion analysis thanks to the introduction of new metrics and the ability to create customised user segments.
It supports data attribution across devices and channels, allowing a better understanding of the customer journey across various online and offline touchpoints. This helps marketers and analysts create more effective marketing strategies and make more informed decisions.
Through its integration with Google Cloud, GA4 can analyse large amounts of data in real-time and provide detailed reports on ad campaign performance, user interaction and conversions.
GA4 uses artificial intelligence to identify emerging trends and predict user behaviour, helping companies optimise their strategies based on this information.
G4 in compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a powerful web analytics tool that allows companies to monitor visitor behaviour on their sites.
However, what are GA4’s capabilities regarding compliance with privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?
Monitoring website performance and analysing user behaviour has become critical to the development and growth of many companies. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is one of the most widely used tools in this area, offering a wide range of features to help companies make data-driven decisions. However, with increasing concerns about user privacy, analytics tools must comply with current regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA.
The GDPR and the CCPA
The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a European regulation that aims to protect individuals’ privacy and personal data within the European Union. Among its main provisions, the GDPR requires users’ explicit consent for collecting and using their data and grants them the right to access, rectify, erasure and restrict data processing.
The CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) is a California state law that aims to protect the privacy of California residents. Like the GDPR, the CCPA guarantees consumers the right to know what personal data is being collected, to delete it, and to object to the sale of their data.
GA4 and GDPR compliance
Google Analytics 4 offers several features to help companies comply with the GDPR.
The Collection of Consent
GA4 allows companies to efficiently manage the collection of user consent by setting cookies and collecting data only after the user has provided explicit consent.
Consent collection is a feature available in Google Analytics 4 (G4) that allows users to acquire user consent for collecting and processing their data.
This is important to comply with privacy laws, such as the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which requires users’ explicit consent to collect and process their data.
To use the consent collection function in GA4, a consent form must be added to the landing page of the website or application.
This consent form must clearly explain to users what personal data will be collected and how it will be used.
In addition, the consent form must include a mechanism for acquiring users’ consent. A check box or ‘I agree’ button can be used to obtain users’ consent. Once the user has provided consent, the user’s data may be collected and used following the privacy policy of the website or application.
It is important to note that collecting consent in GA4 is a vital privacy protection measure for users and enables compliance with data protection laws. Collecting consent can help build user trust in the website or application by showing that the user controls their data.
IP anonymisation
GA4 offers the ability to anonymise users’ IP addresses, thus reducing the amount of personal data collected and facilitating GDPR compliance.
The IP address anonymisation feature in Google Analytics 4 (G4) allows the IP address of users accessing the website or application to be masked so that no personal user data is stored.
This is important to protect user privacy and comply with data protection laws such as the European Union‘s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
To activate the IP address anonymisation feature in GA4, a customised tracking code must be added to the website or application. This tracking code must contain a configuration that activates the IP address anonymisation function.
The IP address anonymisation function in GA4 deletes the last three characters of the user’s IP address before storing it. This makes it impossible to identify the specific user from the IP address. It is important to note that although the IP address anonymisation feature in GA4 protects user privacy, it may affect the accuracy of the analysis.
In particular, IP address anonymisation may make it more difficult to track users returning to the website or application from different devices.
Data Deletion
Continuous data deletion is a function available in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) that enables the automated deletion of obsolete data that are no longer useful for analysis.
The continuous data deletion function in GA4 allows you to set a customised data retention policy, specifying the period during which data should be retained before being automatically deleted.
This feature helps comply with privacy regulations, such as the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which requires that personal data be retained only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
To use the continuous data deletion function in GA4, you must access your account settings and select the data retention policy.
You can specify the maximum data retention period and the rules for deleting obsolete data here.
It is important to note that the continuous data deletion function in GA4 does not delete data immediately.
Data are retained for a specified period, after which they are gradually deleted over time. This means that it is possible to recover deleted data shortly after deletion.
GA4 is designed to be flexible and scalable, allowing companies of any size to use the platform to monitor, analyse and improve their marketing and sales strategies.
With its wide range of features and integration with other Google tools, GA4 is a complete data management and performance analysis solution.
