Google Analytics
{{short description|Web analytics service from Google}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox software
| title = Google Analytics
| logo = GAnalytics.svg
| logo_size = 110px
| screenshot = 2025-05-26 Google Analytics dashboard.png
| caption = A typical Google Analytics dashboard, as of May 26, 2025
| developer = Google
| released = {{start date and age|2005|11|14|df=y}}
| ver layout = stacked
| genre = Web analytics
| website = {{URL|https://analytics.google.com}}
}}
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and also mobile app traffic and events, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/analytics/premium/features.html |title=Get the Power of Google Analytics: Now available in Standard or Premium, whatever your needs are Google Analytics can help. |access-date=April 8, 2012}} Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/about/company/history/|title=Our history in depth|access-date=July 16, 2012}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/technology/google-acquires-urchin-software.html|title=Google Acquires Urchin Software|agency=Associated Press|date=March 29, 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
As of 2019, Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics service on the web.{{cite web|url=http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/traffic_analysis/all |title=Usage of traffic analysis tools for websites |publisher=W3Techs |date=February 27, 2019 |access-date=February 27, 2019 }} Site frequently updated. Google Analytics provides an SDK that allows gathering usage data from iOS and Android apps, known as Google Analytics for Mobile Apps.{{Cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/analytics/solutions/mobile|title=Google Analytics for Mobile Apps {{!}} Analytics Implementation Guides and Solutions {{!}} Google Developers|website=Google Developers|language=en|access-date=August 25, 2017}}
Google Analytics has undergone many updates since its inception and is currently on its 4th iteration—GA4.{{Cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4|title=Add the Google Analytics tag for Google Analytics 4 properties to your site with gtag.js}} GA4 is the default Google Analytics installation and is the renamed version for the (App + Web) Property that Google released in 2019 in a Beta form. GA4 has also replaced Universal Analytics (UA). One notable feature of GA4 is a natural integration with Google's BigQuery—a feature previously only available with the enterprise GA 360. This move indicates efforts by Google to integrate GA and its free users into their wider cloud offering.{{Cite web|title=GA4 BigQuery Export|url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9823238|access-date=May 13, 2023|website=support.google.com}}
As of July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics ceased collecting new data, with Google Analytics 4 succeeding it as the primary analytics platform. Google had previously announced this change in March 2022. While users had the ability to use Universal Analytics up to the July 2023 deadline, no new data has been added to UA since its sunset.{{Cite web |title=Google Analytics 4 has replaced Universal Analytics |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11583528?hl=en |access-date=August 14, 2023 |website=support.google.com}} On July 1, 2024, all users, including GA 360, will lose access to all Universal Analytics properties.
Features
Google Analytics is used to track website activity such as session duration, pages per session and the engagement rate of individuals using the site, along with the information on the source of the traffic. It can be integrated with Google Ads,{{Cite web|url=https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1704341?co=ADWORDS.IsAWNCustomer=false&hl=en|title=Link Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts - Previous - Google Ads Help|website=support.google.com|access-date=April 4, 2019}} with which users can create and review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions (key events). Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific page, or downloading a particular file. Google Analytics' approach is to show high-level, dashboard-type data for the casual user, and more in-depth data further into the report set. Google Analytics analysis can identify poorly performing pages with techniques such as funnel visualization, where visitors came from (referrers), how long they stayed on the website and their geographical position. It also provides more advanced features, including custom visitor segmentation.{{Citation | url = https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3124493?hl=en | title = Build new segments | access-date = August 8, 2017}} Google Analytics e-commerce reporting can track sales activity and performance. The e-commerce reports show a site's transactions, revenue, and many other commerce-related metrics.{{Citation | url = https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6014872?hl=en | title = Enhanced Ecommerce Reports | access-date = February 17, 2016}}
On September 29, 2011, Google Analytics launched Real-Time analytics, enabling a user to have insights about visitors currently on the site.{{cite web|url=https://analytics.googleblog.com/2011/09/whats-happening-on-your-site-right-now.html|title=What's happening on your site right now?}} A user can have 100 site profiles. Each profile generally corresponds to one website. It is limited to sites that have online traffic of fewer than 5 million page views per month (roughly 2 page-views per second) unless the site is linked to a Google Ads campaign.{{Cite web |title=Google Analytics Help: Does Google Analytics have a pageview limit? |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1070983?hl=en#zippy=%2Cin-this-article}} Google Analytics includes Google Website Optimizer, re-branded as Google Analytics Content Experiments.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer/|title=Website Optimizer|access-date=July 20, 2012}}{{cite web|last=Tzemah|first=Nir|title=Helping to Create Better Websites: Introducing Content Experiments|url=http://analytics.blogspot.com/2012/06/helping-to-create-better-websites.html|work=Google Analytics Blog|access-date=June 4, 2012}} Google Analytics' Cohort analysis helps in understanding the behavior of component groups of users apart from your user population. It is beneficial to marketers and analysts for the successful implementation of a marketing strategy.
The latest version of Google Analytics, commonly referred as GA4, encompasses additional features focusing on predictions, customizability, and privacy. Some of these features can be listed as:
- A new concept to allow the same property to be used both for website and mobile app,{{Cite web |title=[GA4] Measure activity across platforms - Analytics Help |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9213390 |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=support.google.com}}{{Cite web |title=[GA4] Set up Analytics for a website and/or app - Analytics Help |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9304153 |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=support.google.com}}
- AI-powered predictive metrics supported by machine learning,{{Cite web |title=[GA4] Predictive metrics - Analytics Help |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9846734 |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=support.google.com}}{{Cite web |date=July 29, 2021 |title=Everything You Need to Know About Machine Learning in Google Analytics 4 |url=https://www.datadrivenu.com/machine-learning-google-analytics-4/ |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Data Driven U |language=en-US}}
- A customizable, easy-to-navigate homepage,{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2022 |title=Latest GA4 Updates & Tips & Tricks That You Will Love |url=https://analyzify.app/hub/latest-ga4-updates/ |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Analyzify Hub |language=en}}
- An Explore section to provide completely custom reports for specific business needs,{{Cite web |title=[GA4] Get started with Explorations - Analytics Help |url=https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7579450 |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=support.google.com}}
- A built-in DebugView to analyze and debug the upcoming data instantly,{{Cite web |date=May 10, 2020 |title=Validating Google Analytics 4 With Debug Mode |url=https://ken-williams.com/guide/installation/validating-google-analytics-4-with-debug-mode/ |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Ken Williams Blog}}
- Anomaly detection,{{Cite web |date=July 22, 2021 |title=7 GA4 Features That Will (Hopefully) Make You Hate It Less |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/useful-google-analytics-4-features/413920/ |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Search Engine Journal |language=en}}
- Improved e-commerce reports.{{Cite web |date=November 22, 2021 |title=Important GA4 eCommerce reports for Shopify Stores |url=https://analyzify.app/hub/ga4-ecommerce-reports-shopify/ |access-date=April 17, 2022 |website=Analyzify Hub |language=en}}
- Has feature to analysis user journey from behavior analysis section.
History
Google acquired Urchin Software Corp. in April 2005. Google's service was developed from Urchin on Demand. The system also brings ideas from Adaptive Path, whose product, Measure Map, was acquired and used in the redesign of Google Analytics in 2006.{{cite web|url=https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/here-comes-measure-map.html|title=Here comes Measure Map}} Google continued to sell the standalone, installable Urchin WebAnalytics Software through a network of value-added resellers until discontinuation on March 28, 2012.{{cite web | url = http://analytics.blogspot.com/2012/01/end-of-era-for-urchin-software.html | title = The End of an Era for Urchin Software | date = January 20, 2012 | first = Paul | last = Muret | publisher = Google Analytics | access-date = April 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413093651/https://www.google.com/urchin/ |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url = https://www.google.com/urchin/ | title = The End of an Era for Urchin Software | first = Paul | last = Muret | publisher = Google Analytics | access-date = April 7, 2012 }} The Google-branded version was rolled out in November 2005 to anyone who wished to sign up. However, due to extremely high demand for the service, new sign-ups were suspended a week later. As capacity was added to the system, Google began using a lottery-type invitation-code model. Before August 2006, Google was sending out batches of invitation codes as server availability permitted; since mid-August 2006 the service has been fully available to all users – whether they use Google for advertising or not.{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/zenbatetanola/02-google-analytics|title=Google Analytics - zenbatetanola|website=sites.google.com|access-date=March 17, 2016}}
The newer version of Google Analytics tracking code is known as the asynchronous tracking code,{{cite web | url = https://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=161379 | title = Asynchronous Tracking Code }} which Google claims is more sensitive and accurate, and is able to track very short activities on the website. The previous version delayed page loading, and so, for performance reasons, it was generally placed just before the