GA4 important changes from Universal Analytics

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.