Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google's web analytics service, a comprehensive tool that empowers businesses to understand their audience and make data-driven decisions. Built on the foundations of Google Analytics 3, also known as Universal Analytics, GA4 brings a paradigm shift in how user interactions are tracked and interpreted.

The Revolution in Web Analytics

In contrast to Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 is designed around the concept of events.

Every user interaction, from page views to button clicks, is considered an event, allowing for a more in-depth understanding of user behaviour. This shift enables a more accurate depiction of the user journey across various devices and platforms.

Google Analytic 4's integration capabilities with other Google services like Google AdSense offer users a holistic view of their digital performance. By combining data from AdSense, businesses can analyse how their ad strategies impact user behaviour and site performance, leading to more informed marketing decisions. While GA4 does not natively support heatmaps of user behaviour, it provides robust user interaction data that can be used with third-party tools to generate heatmaps. These visual representations of user engagement can be a valuable asset in optimising website design and improving user experience.

Main Benefits of GA4

Improved data insights. GA4 uses machine learning to provide better insights into data trends and customer behaviour patterns, which can help businesses make more informed decisions.
Event-based tracking. GA4's event-based tracking allows businesses to have a deeper understanding of how users are interacting with their products or services, which can lead to improved customer engagement strategies.
Future-proof data measurement. With an emphasis on user privacy and adaptability to new regulations, GA4 ensures that businesses can continue to obtain valuable data insights even as privacy standards evolve.

In summary, Google Analytics 4 marks a significant advance in web analytics, delivering a more integrated and detailed understanding of user behaviour. As businesses transition from Universal Analytics to GA4, they gain access to more robust tools for data analysis and the potential for greater digital success.

How can you use GA4 to track Ad revenue

Pro tips from yield analyst:

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can be a powerful tool for monitoring ad revenue performance from AdSense and Ad Manager. Here's how you can utilize it:

Link Ad Accounts to GA4: Connect your Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager accounts with your GA4 property. This enables GA4 to import ad revenue data and correlate it with user behavior on your website.
Monetization Reports: Use the Monetization section in GA4 to view reports that show your ad revenue performance. This includes metrics like Ad Revenue per User, Total Ad Revenue, and impressions.
Event Tracking: Set up custom events to track specific interactions related to ad performance, such as ad clicks and impressions.
Audience Segmentation: Create audience segments to analyze the behavior of users who interact with ads differently. This can help you understand which user segments are most valuable in terms of ad revenue.

By closely monitoring these metrics and reports in GA4, you can gain insights into how users are interacting with ads from AdSense and Ad Manager, and how these interactions contribute to your overall ad revenue performance.

Pro tip no.1:

You can connect both Ad Manager and Adsense. Revenue will be summed up in GA4 and it works pretty well.

Pro tip no 2:

Well, by connecting GA4 with GAM and Adsense you see revenue data in GA4. But... you can see also soft visitors metrics in Adsense (Such as number of pageviews) or in Ad Manager (a lot more in separate Analytics report), such as number of sessions, DAU, ARPU, ARRPU.. Even per individual ad unit :)

Now you can see what is your revenue per session for individual ad unit, or per user. What a hack!

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