Common Analytics Assumptions — Whiteboard Friday

And of course, past but not least, you astir apt saw this mini prize that I personification down here. GA4 not set. This is simply a immense problem that group are seeing successful GA4. They're like, "I looked astatine my landing pages, and a bunch of them were not set, aliases I was looking astatine my acquisition, and a bunch of it was not set. What is going on?"

So this is really GA4 useful and really it's different from Universal Analytics. GA4 is measuring a bid of events that hap connected your website, a page view, a scroll, personification clicking connected a telephone to action fastener if you've group it up to measurement that. If I have, say, a tab unfastened connected nan website, perchance this tab you're connected correct now, perchance you clicked it from, say, a newsletter, and past you decided I'm gonna watch that video later. And past you came backmost later, and you clicked play successful nan video, that page didn't reload. There's nary overmuch page position event. But because you clicked play connected this video you're watching correct now, there's a video play event.

The problem is that because there's nary page view, we don't cognize really you landed connected nan website because that page position event, that normal commencement event, goes connected pinch that first page view. So if you had recreation backmost to this tab, deed reload, and past deed play, we would cognize wherever you came from. But because you didn't, you conscionable deed play, perchance spell backmost and reload, and past deed play, truthful we cognize wherever you came from; nan problem is it's gonna show up arsenic not set.

So if you're seeing a batch of not group successful your GA4, there's a mini mini information of it that is simply a bug that Google whitethorn aliases whitethorn not fix. But nan different information of it is that group are hoarding tabs. How galore tabs do you personification unfastened correct now? I liking it's overmuch than this one. And truthful because of that, you're decidedly gonna spot a batch of not group successful your reports. The magnitude of not group that you spot will dangle connected nan number of group who hoard your tabs.

Hoarding tabs isn't needfully a bad thing. People for illustration to publication worldly later. People mightiness beryllium like, I'm gonna deliberation astir this merchandise for a week and past bargain it. So this tin show you really galore group are doing those things. But it is point to deliberation astir erstwhile you're doing that reporting. Should you spot that not group data? Maybe study connected it successful a somewhat different way.

So if you're seeing not set, don't accent astir it. That's what's going on. You whitethorn aliases whitethorn not wish to spot it successful your analytics. I find that erstwhile you're reporting to group who are not doing what we do, specified arsenic activity astatine your institution aliases your clients, it's sometimes champion to get free of it 'cause it conscionable confuses group who aren't us. But certainly, you know, depending upon nan benignant of accusation that you're capturing pinch not set, you mightiness wanna study connected it aliases not study connected it.

And truthful pinch that, those are communal analytics assumptions I find that group are making that are mostly incorrect. I dream this helped you successful your analytics recreation and I committedness that eventually, complete time, we will each emotion GA4 because we're benignant of stuck pinch it now. Thanks for watching.