Google Analytics vs. Google Analytics 360 – Knowledgebase

Google offers two versions of Google Analytics. The standard version of Google Analytics (GA) is free, and the premium version Google Analytics 360 (GA360) is the paid version of Google Analytics with a tier-based pricing. Both versions can be used for tracking in all Visiolink applications.

This article will outline some of the differences between Standard Google Analytics and Google Analytics 360. Google Analytics will give you a notification when you are a good candidate to go premium, and this can also give you an idea of when to make the switch to 360.

Data Collection

Both versions of Google Analytics can be used to track events in a Visiolink application, but the collection limit is different. With standard GA you get up to 10 million hits per month, and with Google Analytics 360 you get 1 billion+ hits per month depending on the specific tier.

	*Google Analytics*	*Google Analytics 360*
Hit count per month	Up to 10 million hits per month	1 billion+ hits per month (The first tier)

With a standard Google Analytics account, you have the capacity to make 20 Custom Dimensions and 20 Custom Metrics whereas a 360 account gives you 200 of each. All Visiolink Applications uses a minimum of 6 Custom Dimensions.

	*Google Analytics*	*Google Analytics 360*
Custom Dimension/Metrics	20 of each	200 of each

Another difference between GA360 and GA is the Data Freshness which means the Data processing latency. For a standard account the Data Freshness is 24+ hours, and for 360 accounts the Data Freshness is only 4 hours at maximum.

	*Google Analytics*	*Google Analytics 360*
Data Freshness	24+ hours	10 min - 4 hours

Reporting

Both account types provide Standard Reports, Custom Reports, Dashboards, and Segments.

	*Google Analytics*	*Google Analytics 360*
*Data Collection*
Hit count per month	Up to 10 million hits per month	1 billion+ hits per month
Custom Dimension/Metrics	20 of each	200 of each
Data Freshness	24+ hours	10 min - 4 hours

The main difference between standard Google Analytics and Google Analytics 360 for a Visiolink solution is the number of 'Hits'. If you have many users, the Hit-limit can be reached. When this happens, you can experience inconsistencies in your data. There are examples where Google simply caused the removal of some key event data because the limit had been reached. At the same time, Google will sample the data whenever the queries become large and advanced. You can avoid sampling of data with Google Analytics 360.

If you have questions regarding your data or the differences between Google Analytics and Google Analytics 360, feel free to contact us.

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