Published on 2025-06-27T22:16:16Z

What is Google Analytics 4? Examples and Comparison with Plainsignal

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest generation of Google’s web and app analytics platform, launched in October 2020 as the successor to Universal Analytics. It introduces an event-based data model that tracks user interactions — such as clicks, scrolls, and pageviews — across websites and mobile apps in a unified manner. GA4 emphasizes privacy by offering cookieless measurement capabilities, user consent management, and granular data retention controls. With built-in machine learning, it provides intelligent insights like predictive metrics and anomaly detection to help businesses anticipate user behavior. Its cross-platform data streams and flexible reporting tools enable marketers and analysts to understand customer journeys more holistically.

Illustration of Google analytics 4
Illustration of Google analytics 4

Google analytics 4

GA4 is Google's event-driven, cross-platform analytics platform for web and apps, featuring privacy controls and machine learning insights.

Overview of Google Analytics 4

An introduction to GA4’s architecture, goals, and how it differs from Universal Analytics.

  • Event-driven data model

    Unlike session-based Universal Analytics, GA4 treats every interaction as an event. This offers more flexibility in defining and measuring user behaviors.

    • Events vs sessions:

      GA4 tracks interactions (events) rather than grouping hits into sessions, enabling granular analysis of individual actions.

    • Event parameters:

      Each event can carry up to 25 custom parameters, providing additional context such as button names or content categories.

  • Cross-platform tracking

    GA4 unifies data from websites and mobile apps into a single property via data streams.

    • Web data streams:

      Collects events from your website using gtag.js or Google Tag Manager.

    • App data streams:

      Collects events from Android or iOS apps through the Firebase SDK.

Key Features and Benefits

GA4 brings new capabilities focused on privacy, insights, and a user-centric approach.

  • Privacy and compliance

    Built-in controls and cookieless measurement help meet evolving data regulations.

    • Consent mode:

      Adjusts data collection based on user consent status.

    • Data deletion requests:

      Automates removal of user data to comply with privacy laws.

  • Machine learning insights

    Leverages Google’s AI to surface trends and predictions automatically.

    • Predictive metrics:

      Generates metrics like purchase probability and churn risk.

    • Anomaly detection:

      Alerts you to significant, unexpected shifts in your data.

Setting Up Google Analytics 4

Step-by-step on creating a property, installing the tracking code, and configuring events.

  • Creating a ga4 property

    In Google Analytics Admin, click “Create Property,” choose Web or App, and follow the prompts to obtain your Measurement ID.

  • Installing ga4 tracking code

    Add this snippet to your site:

    <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>
    • Using google tag manager:

      Alternatively, deploy the GA4 tag via GTM for a code-free setup.

Comparison with Plainsignal

How GA4 compares to PlainSignal’s cookie-free, simple analytics solution.

  • Cookie-free simple analytics

    PlainSignal focuses on essential metrics like pageviews and events without using cookies or tracking personal data.

  • Example plainsignal tracking code

    Implement PlainSignal with this snippet:

    <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
<script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>

Related terms