{"id":22192,"date":"2023-06-29T00:36:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T19:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=22192"},"modified":"2023-06-29T00:36:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T19:06:13","slug":"ppcchat-ga4-27th-june-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/ppcchat-ga4-27th-june-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"PPCChat | GA4 | 27th June 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During this week’s PPCChat discussion, host Julie F Bacchini<\/a> sought experts’ views on GA4, how comfortable they are working in GA4, the biggest challenges working in GA4, what is missing in GA4 which was available in universal analytics and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Q1: Are all of the sites you work with using GA4? If so, for how long? And if not, why not?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Only certain ones. My restaurant client actually has quite a bit of experience with it as they installed it when it first came out for app tracking. now it’s all getting migrated. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, all of the sites I work with are running GA4 and have been for at least 6 months. They only did it because I insisted that they do it. Otherwise, I think they’d be all auto-migrated cases. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I had been pushing my clients to move to GA4 pretty hard. A lot of brands hate change and hate putting resources to making the change when there is other work, but it had to be done. @lchasse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most forward-thinking brands have had data for the last 6-9 months. Others are convinced their “cutover” process should sign with the sunset date on Friday.. It’s a mixed bag, surrounded by continued apprehension. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part yes – the biggest areas I see struggles are with e-commerce (particularly for app-heavy sites). Lead gen have for the most part been on #GA4<\/a> since the start of this year. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, all of the sites I run Google Ads for have been using GA4 for about 4+ months now. However, I’m a much bigger fan of bidding primarily on website conversion actions over GA. @jlnphllp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes to start with. We tried to get everything tracking for as close to a year as we could. Some clients have been a little behind the ball but not from a lack of pushing on our side. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s worth noting that while most are on #GA4<\/a>, I’m still heavily relying on native conversion tracking for #ppc<\/a> campaigns. Most brands I work with don’t qualify for #GA4<\/a> audiences due to thresholding. However, for those that do, I am in love. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It varies depending on the client. Some of our newer ones only just started working through the switch in May or June \u2013 usually because a past partner\/team didn’t make it a priority. Others have been using GA4 since early 2022, around when the announcement was made. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will be, that being said, I have one client who insists on doing it on their own, and still hasn’t migrated to it, so who knows. One client we migrated in January of last year. @JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll give a different perspective on this. I am mostly working with Tech and SaaS at the moment. You will not believe that there are so many big SaaS still running on UA. Moreover, they had not even downloaded the UA data for future reference. @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is keeping the past UA data will ensure that we are not facing any data loss even after we migrated our sites to GA4? @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@1tagupta<\/a> Downloading the data into big query or other data management tools is helpful. It’s also useful to document which YoY reports you need vs they’re nice to have so you can try to do oranges to clementines in upcoming reporting cycles. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@navahf<\/a> So it’s quite similar to having a backup right? No way to actually connect old UA data and new GA4 data using any tools or something? @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@1tagupta<\/a> To my knowledge, at this point there is nothing. They might introduce it later but as of now it’s all third party and manual. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the old data, is there any actual use case for which companies would like to pay than just having a backup? What companies\/industries might have the most need of this data? twitter.com\/1tagupta\/statu\u2026<\/a> @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we finally have gotten almost everyone over, but it’s not an easy setup and it can be challenging to push the change management through big complex orgs or teeny tiny ones with no devs. @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, but more than half are still checking UA data first and not fully reliant on GA4. @NotSpamIpromise<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q2: How comfortable are you working in GA4?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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As comfortable as you can be with a newish platform. Finding workarounds for data that used to be easily found in UA. @lchasse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point not very. I’m so grateful for all the training and tips I’ve received, but it’s so fundamentally different that I likely won’t feel comfortable for a while. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not at all…yet. @ppcliveuk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to be way more comfortable than I am in GA4. I just find everything so hard in GA4 vs. Universal Analytics. More steps, more setup, endless customization which has meant way fewer pre-setup metrics, reports, etc. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would say I can find most reports and set up conversions etc. But still feel behind on creating custom reports that are usable. A lot of the stuff I want to create just doesn’t seem possible (it may be possible but I haven’t figured it out yet. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a scale of 1-10? I’m a solid 5 to be honest. I’ve seen a bit of what others can do with GA4 custom reports and I’m not there yet. I’ve been more focused on setting up\/deploying GA4 via GTM because it seems to be where many of my clients get lost. @jlnphllp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a scale of 1-10 I’d put myself at a 7…so I’d be a neutral on the NPS scale XD In all seriousness, I don’t think we ever rate ourselves as highly as others would rate us. Comfy comes with time. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comfortable but for sure have soooo much still to learn. The main concerns really are around tracking, parameters and events but so much of my learning has been community-led (tut tut Google for lack of training vids) can’t fault them however in making advertisers aware. @PPC_Fraser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much more comfortable than I was, but I’m still not 100% confident that I’m using it to its full potential. @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Folks I strongly recommend learning from @brie_e_anderson<\/a>@measure_minds<\/a>@timothyjjensen<\/a>@analyticsmania<\/a> Note if I didn’t mention someone it’s not that they aren’t useful, just these are the folks who helped me <3 @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, so far I’m not impressed by the inability to download the data feature. So, no no. However, I am working on SaaS with my partner to work somewhat like what GA4 does but without complex dashboards. We are still working on getting it up and running. @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will say we #ppc<\/a> folks got the short end of the stick because most content to get comfy with #GA4<\/a> was very #SEO<\/a> focused. I think that might be part of the reason so many cling to native tracking and audiences even with a robust set-up. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning curve for sure. Early takeaway for me is, the things that are easier to find, report on, and draw insights from in GA4 must be a priority for Google & therefore deserve attention. Custom reports should be a go-to resource, even in UA, so that’s less novel. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can get the essentials of what we need for reporting pretty easily, like channel & campaign breakdowns. But beyond that there is a lot to learn, and unfortunately, I haven’t really had the time\/capacity to dive deeper into the platform (especially recently). @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairly comfortable for the easy stuff, but still find myself frustrated, especially when other platforms still don\u2019t have integrations or clear documentation. @NotSpamIpromise<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question in itself is an oxymoron. @JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q3: What are your biggest challenges working in GA4?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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There are so many, but the most annoying one (at least for me), is that the navigation of the UI still doesn’t make sense. @JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing to check against, and conversion rebuilding. I’m now in VERY FUN conversations about why conversions are “dropping” because the way events & sessions are measured has fundamentally changed. YoY comparisons for non-ecom is effectively over. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The usability. Nothing seems like it was created from the user POV. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting reporting set up and being able to easily view segmented data. The report builder gives me a headache as soon as I open it. How were standard UA reports not ported into GA4? @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biggest issue for me is data processing times, the shift in going from realtime data updates in UA to sometimes having to wait 24 hours for data has meant extra expectation managing for clients. That being said Debug mode is a godsend for GTM checks. @PPC_Fraser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The (in)ability to pull YoY reports in the platform, especially for accounts with long histories. @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest challenge is now juggling 2 properties. Regardless of my GA4 data set, I still have different comparisons across two platforms. I also find “thresholding” extremely frustrating. Always in the name of “privacy” but I find Google’s rationale inconsistent. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biggest challenge to working in #GA4<\/a> is thresholds and balancing privacy vs utility. GA4 is a really powerful tool and provides enterprise-level resources across the board…the problem is not everyone has enterprise-level data. P.S. Google Signals is a GDPR trap. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing everyone’s sentiment on usability here. Feels clunkier trying to do …anything… compared to UA. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you take the time to unselect countries for the modelling of data, you might be putting yourself at risk for gdpr…safest is to not use them, but for us US folks, it’s hard to say no to that data enrichment. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generating reports. Even very simple reports i used to generate in UA, take hours sometimes. @mr_govindsingh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s definitely using the report builder. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@NeptuneMoon<\/a> Is there any way to see which companies are using GA 360? Anything in the tag or something? @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THRESHOLDING. But also, getting new features in the last month that should have been released for 6 months for advertisers before the switch date. Split data and broken integrations (like not seeing calls tracked back to campaigns, and needing to add them manually) @NotSpamIpromise<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their minimum data threshold. The inability to download the reports. The inability to connect old UA data with the new UA data. No GA alternative. Companies not understanding why they have to switch to GA4. Media buyers in the mid with inaccurate data. @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q4: What is missing in GA4 that you regularly used in Universal Analytics?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Aside from ALL MY CONVERSIONS, I’d say segments. I’m a click around and find out kind of lady. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a bit of a cop-out but I miss the stability of data. We can recreate most of the reports and metrics from UA to GA4, but I find I am on shakier ground in trusting the data\/formatting it. Also knowing it will be purged after a time is a mood. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, where to start… How about any useful PPC reports just existing? Or any PPC navigation? Or the disappearance of segments? Or the fact that EVERYTHING has to be set up\/customized? No one wants this as the only level. Dashboards. Easy sharing. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UA had better ready-to-go reports out of the box. I feel as though UA was much more powerful out of the box than GA4 when it comes to this. @jlnphllp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not sure if they are missing or just not easily accessible but segments, some secondary dimensions, easy to-read graphs (good luck if you are color-blind distinguishing between 6 lines of different blues) @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acquisition tab by source\/medium with goal-set columns customized by priority. Had a lot of default views that exist in different forms now. Haven’t found a way to re-create all of them yet. @timmhalloran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I already miss the Behavior Flow report. Not a *ton* of folks leveraged this historically, possibly explaining its deprecation. Having a visual map of average paths through a site was invaluable for me. It can be “recreated” but it’s not the same. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bounce rate and eCommerce conversion rate are two BIG missing pieces in #GA4<\/a>. @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple navigation, columns, easy access to metrics, a simple way to create and edit events, etc. @JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q5: Are you actively investigating and\/or testing other analytics solutions? If so, which ones and what are your thoughts on them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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It’s almost like I read your mind XD Currently most of my folks are still team #GA4<\/a>, but that’s also because GA4 is free. I think we’ll see a big shift from enterprise and #B2B<\/a> to other solutions. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pure Python and coding. If things look good, we end up having an alternative. I would like to hear what others are testing. @1tagupta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to be but wanted to get GA4 all set up first and a quarter so of data to see. I am quietly waiting for the Microsoft UET analytics in hopes that they actually saw what was happening and recreated a more UA-like platform (one can dream) @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have not looked at other options very seriously, but I want to. As an aside, if anyone wants to do a write-up on alternatives to GA4, let me know! @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes and no. As a spoiled Holdco brat we have our own data lake that we can visualize from. but that isn’t a solution for everything. Like when I onboard a new client, I now can’t get their historical data easily. Data portability and ownership is a major flaw. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had a fun time exploring at #RICE23<\/a> and checking out other options. Adobe seems to be one of the bigger competitors there. @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt we’ll see a lot of people switching off of GA though – most clients don’t have a budget for Analytics (and GA is powerful AND free). @revaminkoff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haven’t found a “replacement” persay. But I do like having redundancies in place, especially lately with the unpredictability. Right now, the other analytics software are specific to client’s industry: Rockerbox, and Adobe. Also use a few for reports (like optmyzr, shape). @timmhalloran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, I’m in the “devil you know” camp. If Google Ads prioritizes GA4 signals, need to master that platform & accelerate the ad-serving ML. The door is open (see: attribution) for a host of new tech solutions. I still think the default will be GA4 by year’s end. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did, specifically for healthcare clients, either they are underwhelming, or insanely expensive. @JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q6: What have been the most helpful resources you\u2019ve found for setting up and using GA4?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I started with everything Google self-publishes, hear it from the horse’s mouth & learn through that lens first. From there, I crowdsource my. People are brilliant. Many solutions + reports are already published. Reddit, CXL, Udemy & others reinforce (some paid). @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best education I’ve gotten has come from speakers; recently: @danaditomaso<\/a> & @KivaSlade<\/a>. The first GA4 talk I heard was @fred_pike<\/a> \u2013 all were awesome. Usually the answer would be “Googling + playing with it” but with #GA4<\/a> the external assist helped immensely. @timmhalloran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve learned more from @fedorovicius<\/a> at analytics mania on GA4, then I have from Google…@JonKagan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PPCChat Participants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n