Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the current version of Google Analytics, Google’s analytics service for websites and apps. It measures what visitors do and provides reports on that behavior.
What is GA4?
Google describes GA4 as using event-based data instead of session-based data. It records individual interactions as events, for example a page view, a click or a purchase. Website and app data can be collected in the same property.
GA4 replaced Universal Analytics. Google states that Universal Analytics stopped processing new data on July 1, 2023, and that all new data goes into GA4 properties.
Key terms
- Session: a period in which a user interacts with the site or app. It ends after 30 minutes of inactivity by default.
- Engagement rate and bounce rate: a session counts as engaged if it lasts longer than 10 seconds, includes a key event or has at least two page views. Bounce rate is the inverse.
- Key event: an event marked as especially important for the business.
- Attribution: assigning credit for key events to channels. GA4 offers data-driven attribution and last-click models.
What does GA4 mean for SEO?
Google Search Console reports what happens in Google Search, such as impressions, clicks and positions. GA4 reports what visitors do on the site after arriving, such as sessions, engagement and key events. The two measure at different points and their numbers do not match.
| Aspect | Google Search Console | Google Analytics 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility in Search | Impression: a link to the site was seen (or potentially seen) in Search, Discover or News | no own data; once linked, GA4 shows Search Console metrics in dedicated reports |
| Visit from Search | Click: for most result types, any click that sends the user to a page outside Google Search, Discover or News | records the visit on the site (session, events); clicks from Google Search only through the Search Console link |
| Session | no such metric | Session: starts with a page or screen view when no session is active and times out after 30 minutes of inactivity by default |
| Page views | no such metric | Views: number of web pages or app screens users saw, repeated views included |
| Data source | Google's data on how the site appears in Google Search | events sent by the Google tag (JavaScript) on the site; visits without JavaScript enabled are missing |
| Delay | data usually available in 2–3 days; the newest data can be preliminary | processing can take 24–48 hours; Search Console data appears in GA4 48 hours after collection |
| Privacy | anonymized queries: very rare queries are omitted from the table but included in chart totals | data thresholds: rows with demographic data or search query information may be withheld when there are too few users; not adjustable |
| Completeness | data truncation: only the most important rows are stored and shown, the table shows up to 1,000 rows; the most complete list comes from the bulk data export | sampling: if a query exceeds the event quota (10 million events for standard properties), a subset is used and scaled up |
Search Console clicks and GA4 sessions count different things, so their numbers differ. Google lists privacy, processing, time lag, time zones (Search Console counts days in Pacific Time) and JavaScript among the reasons. The two help pages give different delays (2–3 days in the Search Console Help, 48 hours in the GA4 Help on the integration). Sources: Search-Console-Hilfe: Impressionen, Position und Klicks; Search-Console-Hilfe: Leistungsbericht – Fehlerbehebung und Datenabweichungen; Search-Console-Hilfe: Leistungsbericht – Dimensionen und Datengruppierungen; Search-Console-Hilfe: So werden Klicks und Impressionen gezählt (vorläufige Daten); Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Analytics-Sitzungen; Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Dimensionen und Messwerte; Analytics-Hilfe: Datenaktualität; Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Datengrenzwerte; Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Stichprobenerhebung; Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Search Console-Integration; Analytics-Hilfe: [GA4] Datenerfassung für Websites einrichten. Last checked: .
Privacy
In the EU, Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC, as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC) requires consent for storing information on a user’s device or accessing it, for example through cookies. Germany implements this rule in Section 25 TDDDG. Article 6 GDPR sets out the legal bases for processing personal data. When users do not give consent, their data is missing from the reports.
This is not legal advice.
FAQ
What is GA4 in Google Analytics? The fourth generation of Google Analytics, built on events rather than sessions.
Is GA4 replacing Google Analytics? GA4 replaced Universal Analytics, the previous version. Google Analytics is the product name for both.
When did Universal Analytics stop working? July 1, 2023 for standard properties, according to Google.
More on the searchVIU blog
Sources
- Introducing Google Analytics 4 – Analytics Helpsupport.google.com
- Sessions in Google Analytics – Analytics Helpsupport.google.com
- [GA4] Engagement rate and bounce rate – Analytics Helpsupport.google.com
- Key events – Analytics Helpsupport.google.com
- Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive), consolidated version of 19.12.2009, Art. 5(3) – EUR-Lex, checked 7.10.2026eur-lex.europa.eu
- Section 25 TDDDG – Gesetze im Internetgesetze-im-internet.de
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Art. 6 – EUR-Lexeur-lex.europa.eu
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