Following the recent sunsetting of Universal Analytics (UA) on 1st July, Google has begun the roll out of new features and improvements for Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

Google’s latest enhancements aim to give marketers deeper insights and tools for cross- channel measurement and budget optimisation.

AI-Powered Insights

One of the most significant advancements in GA4 is the introduction of AI-generated insights. Google is leveraging its AI capabilities to provide users with generated insights that explain data trends and fluctuations in plain language. These AI-driven summaries aim to simplify the analysis process, enabling businesses to make faster, more informed decisions based on their analytics data.

Steve Ganem, Director, Product Management, Google Analytics

“In the coming months we will introduce generated insights to give you clear, concise summaries explaining fluctuations in your data in plain language.

Imagine your “Purchase” events spiked on a series of individual dates. Our AI engine works through the countless combinations of dimensions and metrics to proactively connect the dots, explaining why these spikes are happening.

These insights will be written in a natural, easy-to-understand way, almost like a colleague summarizing the key takeaways for you.”

The goal is to save time and reduce the complexity of data analysis, allowing marketers to focus on data-driven decisions that drive results.

Expanded Cross-Channel Reporting

GA4 is getting improved cross-channel reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to integrate data from third-party advertising partners such as Pinterest, Reddit, and Snap directly into GA4 properties.

This integration provides a more complete view of campaign performance across platforms, enabling marketers to see non-Google campaign data in their cross-channel performance reports. These reports will be mapped to Analytics traffic source dimensions with metrics like “ads cost,” “ads clicks,” and “ads impressions.”

Additionally, GA4 will introduce aggregated impressions from linked Campaign Manager 360 accounts in the advertising workspace. This feature will give advertisers a thorough overview of campaign performance across the entire marketing funnel.

By offering a holistic view of campaign performance, GA4 aims to help businesses optimise their marketing efforts across all platforms.

Advanced Planning & Budgeting Tools

Furthermore, later this year, GA4 will roll out cross-channel budgeting features, including a projections report.

The new tool allows advertisers to track media pacing and projected performance against target objectives, such as revenue, across multiple channels. This addition aims to improve marketers’ ability to optimise media spend and allocate budgets more effectively.

The projections report provides valuable insights into cross-channel campaign performance, making it easier for businesses to plan their marketing strategies and allocate resources

where they are most likely to achieve the desired outcomes. By providing clear, actionable insights, GA4 empowers marketers to make data-driven decisions that enhance their campaign effectiveness.

Privacy-First Approach

Later this year, Google will start rolling out support for some of the Chrome Privacy Sandbox APIs to help businesses continue to reach their audiences and measure effectiveness without relying on third-party cookies.

Steve Ganem, Director, Product Management, Google Analytics

“Google Analytics 4 is truly built to be durable for the future.

We’ll continue to invest in giving you a tool that helps answer fundamental questions about your business across your consumer’s entire path to purchase, despite ongoing changes in the measurement landscape.”

To adapt to regulatory and privacy changes, enhanced conversions in Google Analytics 4 offer a more complete picture of cross-channel conversion attribution. By combining hashed, consented first-party data with existing conversion tags, businesses can match their data with other Google data in a privacy-safe manner, providing a clearer and more comprehensive view of campaign performance. Additionally, these enhanced conversions can be sent directly to Google Ads, leveraging Google AI to improve ad performance.

Google Analytics 4 also simplifies the process of sharing consent choices through Consent Mode, allowing businesses to utilise AI-powered behavioural modelling for a comprehensive view of user journeys.