{"id":626265,"date":"2024-07-01T19:45:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T16:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/steve-ganem-product-director-of-google-analytics-on-ga4\/"},"modified":"2024-07-01T19:45:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T16:45:16","slug":"steve-ganem-product-director-of-google-analytics-on-ga4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/steve-ganem-product-director-of-google-analytics-on-ga4\/","title":{"rendered":"#Steve Ganem, Product Director of Google Analytics, on GA4"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a381c9b4b0f4\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a381c9b4b0f4\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/steve-ganem-product-director-of-google-analytics-on-ga4\/#We_pose_some_questions_to_Google_as_we_see_the_final_sunset_of_Universal_Analytics_Here_are_some_answers_from_our_interview_with_Steve_Ganem\" >We pose some questions to Google as we see the final sunset of Universal Analytics. Here are some answers from our interview with Steve Ganem.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"We_pose_some_questions_to_Google_as_we_see_the_final_sunset_of_Universal_Analytics_Here_are_some_answers_from_our_interview_with_Steve_Ganem\"><\/span>We pose some questions to Google as we see the final sunset of Universal Analytics. Here are some answers from our interview with Steve Ganem. <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\nAs we bid Google Universal Analytics (UA) its final adieu, we caught up with Product Director of Google Analytics, Steve Ganem, about its successor \u2014 Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We wanted to know how its meeting the needs of digital marketers, its privacy compliance, and what\u2019s on the roadmap for enhancements. (The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: Why GA4?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A: <\/strong>Universal Analytics was built for a different time and a different internet. Universal Analytics was released more than 10 years ago. Think about how much the internet \u2014 and the way people behave \u2014 has changed in the past five years, let alone more than 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, we were in a world where people interacted with businesses through their websites and advertisers could count on cookies and fully observable journeys to get the information they needed. That\u2019s just no longer a reality \u2014 and it shouldn\u2019t be. Not only has the way people interact with and consume content changed, but so have their expectations for privacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>GA4 was built for this new reality \u2014 and to be durable into the future as things continue to evolve. Designed with privacy and AI at its core, GA4 can measure customer journeys that span a variety of devices and touchpoints, without compromising user privacy. People aren\u2019t just using websites and clicking on display ads any more \u2014 it\u2019s a complex journey, moving from screen to screen, with all different formats, and we need measurement that measures just as nimbly.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, GA4 is durable to privacy and regulatory changes, built to handle increasing data sparsity with innovative, privacy-preserving <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What features of GA4 do you think are underutilized? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A: <\/strong>As I mentioned above, GA4 was designed for the world we are living in and the features are much more capable and powerful than its predecessor. GA4\u2019s audience builder, as an example, can be used to orchestrate marketing campaigns across ads, push notifications (via Firebase), SMS, email and others through the Audience Export API. Additionally, it includes predictive capabilities to help advertisers reach the right people at the right moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We also find that businesses aren\u2019t using the reporting features to their fullest potential. GA4\u2019s reporting is fully customizable and businesses can tailor the experience to meet their specific needs. With features like Business Objectives, customers can easily set up out of the box, customized reporting based on their specific business and goals. <\/p>\n<p>With Explorations, businesses can get even deeper, actionable insights about their customers. Previously only available to Google Analytics 360 customers, in GA4, Explorations are available to all customers and can be set up to help businesses do things like create segments and audiences, focus on the most relevant data with filters and segments and perform ad hoc queries to dig into specific queries.<\/p>\n<p>And, for 360 customers, there is now an option to assign distinct reporting experiences to different users within an organization based on their specific goals and needs.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the reporting in GA4 \u2014 for both standard and 360 customers \u2014 has become much more sophisticated and it\u2019s a great opportunity for businesses to explore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What is one of the biggest challenges you hear from customers as it relates to GA4? How are you addressing that challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A: <\/strong>Universal Analytics was around for a long time and so it is natural that people became very accustomed to the way it worked and \u201clooked.\u201d People became used to where things were and how they were measured, which is completely understandable. But, as I mentioned earlier, UA was built for an older world \u2014 one where the way people interacted with businesses was completely different from the way they do today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, because of that, we often hear from customers that it can be challenging to find the same use cases in GA4. There are a few reasons that this can be challenging. First and foremost, it\u2019s new, and it takes time to get used to new things. Second, and most importantly, GA4 was intentionally designed to measure differently in a way that reflects the way people now engage with businesses and content \u2014 hits and sessions aren\u2019t reflective of today\u2019s reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That means that use cases aren\u2019t always 1:1. The information and insights are still there, but they may look different than they did in Universal Analytics because we\u2019re measuring different things \u2014 with good reason.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/10312255?hl=en\">Setup Assistant<\/a>\u00a0was created with businesses of all size in mind. It was designed specifically to help customers get setup with GA4 and make sure they have all of the right pieces in place to get the information they need. This doesn\u2019t have to be a one-and-done situation; it\u2019s a helpful resource and I urge customers to go back to it as they continue to get accustomed to GA4.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to creating more educational materials (some helpful links\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/10110290#zippy=%2Cset-up-user-ids\">here<\/a>,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/topic\/12156336?hl=en\">here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products\/marketingplatform\/analytics\/turn-insights-roi-google-analytics\/\">here<\/a>), we\u2019re also investing in AI-based solutions to help customers find features and get their job done more efficiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/9443595?hl=en\">Analytics Insights<\/a>\u00a0are something GA4 customers can already take advantage of. They use machine learning to help businesses understand and act on their data. For example, with automated insights, Analytics Intelligence detects unusual changes or emerging trends and notifies businesses automatically. These AI-generated insights live throughout GA4 and you can click the \u201cInsights\u201d icon at the top of any Report to see suggested questions and insights to help you better understand what\u2019s h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening and what your next steps should be.<\/p>\n<p>We are always looking for opportunities to make GA4 as intuitive as possible and are excited about how that will continue to evolve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: What does the future of GA4 look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A: <\/strong>Google Analytics has long helped businesses understand user engagement on their websites and apps, as well as the performance of their marketing efforts. Google Analytics 4 does this in a more complete, holistic way. Not only does it bring together web and app into one, seamless experience, but it also gives businesses even more cross-channel insights, enabling them to understand their efforts across more than just Google. We will continue to make it easier to bring in offline data to give businesses a complete picture of their customers and improve their ability to measure and activate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Built with AI at its core, Google Analytics 4 will continue to use best-in-class modeling to give businesses the insights they need to make strategic decisions, all without compromising user privacy. We will build on our stable of intelligence features to help businesses identify important trends and help them capitalize on growth opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re excited to move into this future where GA4 is our only analytics platform \u2014 one where we can continue to innovate and invest in making it the most effective, holistic and durable analytics solution for our customers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q: One big issue advertisers had with GA4 (and UA) was conversion reporting discrepancies. How does Key Events solve this? Is it working? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A: <\/strong>Yes, by unifying the concept of Conversions between Google Analytics and Google Ads, we have finally addressed a long-standing customer challenge that the numbers in Google Analytics are not consistent with the view in Google Ads.\u00a0 We will continue to build on this concept, offering more advertiser features powered by Conversions in our Advertising Workspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Solving this required us to distinguish between important customer interactions (\u201cKey Events\u201d) and those driven by your marketing efforts (\u201cConversions\u201d). We plan to also invest more in Key Events reporting to help product development teams optimize important flows in their customer experiences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n    About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" alt=\"Anu Adegbola\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/anu-adegbola-2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/anu-adegbola-2\" alt=\"Anu Adegbola\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\">\n                                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n                            <strong>Anu Adegbola<\/strong>\n                        <\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=TheMarketingAnu&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/themarketinganu\/\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n                                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', 'Noto Sans', 'Liberation Sans', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px;\">Anu Adegbola has been Paid <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Editor of Search Engine Land<\/span><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', 'Noto Sans', 'Liberation Sans', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px;\"> since 2024. She covers<\/span><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', 'Noto Sans', 'Liberation Sans', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px;\"> paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, Anu&#8217;s career started with<\/span><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event &#8211; PPC Live, host of <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup, and b<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">rand evangelist at ClickTech.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #212529; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Noto Sans, Liberation Sans, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna) and more.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/steve-ganem-product-director-of-google-analytics-on-ga4-443706\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We pose some questions to Google as we see the final sunset of Universal Analytics. Here are some answers from our interview with Steve Ganem. As we bid Google Universal Analytics (UA) its final adieu, we caught up with Product Director of Google Analytics, Steve Ganem, about its successor \u2014 Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":626266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2015\/09\/google-analytics-name-1920.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[26293,133415,137534,107942],"class_list":["post-626265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-google","tag-google-analytics","tag-platforms","tag-ppc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}