In this article we have gathers some insights that we feel you should be aware of when changing over to Google Analytics 4.
Data Freshness:
- Google has updated the data processing time in GA4.
- Users can view live data from their app or website within 30 minutes.
- However, there's a delay of 12-48 hours before the data is stored in your account.
- Due to this processing time, data for today's publication might not be immediately visible.
- During this processing period, your data can changes.
- If you want to know more about the data freshness then read here.
Data Retention changes:
- A significant change is seen in data retention periods between Universal Analytics and GA4.
- In Universal Analytics, the default retention period was 26 months, while in GA4, it's now defaulting to 2 months.
- The maximum retention period in the free version of GA4 is 14 months. For Google 360 customers, it can be extended to 50 months.
- Data reaching the end of its retention period is automatically deleted monthly.
- If you want to know more about data retention in GA4 then you can read googles documentation here.
Adjusting the default data retention:
- To modify data retention settings in GA4:
- Access the admin section of your property
- Navigate to 'Data collection and modification' and then 'Data retention' to make adjustments (see picture below).
Data sampling:
- Exploring reports in GA4 may involve data sampling.
- Reports with large data sets might have sampled data.
- Indicators in the report will show whether the data is sampled or not (usually visible in the report's right corner).
- You can read more about why GA4 samples your reports and what you can do about it here.
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