We have been preparing Google Analytics 4 for a future that is now here. Two years ago, we announced that Google Analytics 4 would be our solution of record. Since then, we have invested in AI-powered insights and better integration with Google Ads, helping you get more value faster.

Making conversions consistent across Google Ads and Analytics

Today, we’re rolling out an update that will make measurement even more insightful and helpful in Google Analytics.

Customer actions drive business results, whether through email sign-ups, purchases or other relevant events. To make it easier to compare these actions across platforms, we are aligning how conversions are defined across Google Ads and Analytics to give you a consistent view of your Google advertising performance. With that, we are introducing key events in Google Analytics that will replace what currently exists as conversions for behavioral analytics.

Key events help site and app owners continue to consistently measure the most important behavior on their websites and apps so they can supercharge their user experience. With this update, a conversion will be the same whether you’re looking at it in your Google Ads reporting or in a Google Analytics report. In this improved, more unified experience, we are addressing the differences in conversions reporting that marketers have experienced across Google Ads and Analytics, a long-standing request that we are happy to have resolved for our customers.

Now, conversions in the existing report and explore modules will become key events. This way, you will be able to define the most important customer actions for your business in analytics and learn what’s working and what’s not to improve your product and experience across websites and apps.

And, if you have a Google Ads account linked to Analytics you will now see consistent conversions in the Advertising Workspace for campaign performance reporting, and you will be able to use them to inform ongoing optimization for better results. Advertisers will also get cross-channel conversion reporting beyond Google Ads.

In the future, new features for advertisers, including additional conversion reporting and tools, will launch in the advertising section. This update, together with the recent changes to the advertising section in Google Analytics, will create a clear view of performance where you need it the most.

A full suite of solutions built with privacy in mind

2024 marks a pivotal moment in advertising, and a durable measurement strategy is core to making you ready for a privacy-first future. Google Analytics 4 is built to adapt to this future with insights and reports and preserve your view of your campaign performance.

As mentioned, we’re rolling out support for the Chrome Privacy Sandbox’s Protected Audience API in Google Analytics 4 in the next few weeks, allowing you to continue to reach your audiences even without third-party cookies.

Additionally, we’ve recently ramped up support for enhanced conversions in Google Analytics 4 to help you improve measurement accuracy. Hashed, consented first-party user-provided data supplements existing conversion tags, giving you a more accurate view of performance. You can now seamlessly send enhanced conversions from Google Analytics 4 to Google Ads making it easier to get started.

We have also made it easier to pass consent choices to Google Analytics 4 by implementing Consent Mode and use AI-powered behavioral modeling to get a complete view of your user journeys.

For years, we’ve been working to make Google Analytics 4 as innovative and effective as possible, helping advertisers get a complete picture of their spend and performance without sacrificing user privacy. And with our continued investments, we’re making it even easier for you to use today.