[GA4] Get started with Analysis

Analysis is a collection of advanced techniques that go beyond the standard reports to help you uncover deeper insights about your customers' behavior.

Once you've discovered interesting data sets, you can:

• quickly perform ad hoc queries
• easily configure and switch between techniques
• sort, refactor, and drill down into the data
• use filters and segments to focus on the data that's most relevant to you
• create segments and audiences
• share your analyses with other users of the same Google Analytics property
• export the analysis data for use in other tools.

Analysis is available for all Google Analytics 4 properties. Google Analytics 360 customers can use the beta version of Analysis on Universal Analytics properties.

In this article:

• Access Analysis
• How Analysis works
• Find your way around the analysis editor
• Add techniques to the analysis
• Add dimensions, metrics, and segments to Variables
• Add data to Tab Settings
• Change the time frame
• Share and export the analysis
• Limits of Analysis
•  

Access Analysis

1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
2. On the left near the bottom, select Analysis.

   

3. The Analysis Hub appears.

4. Click to create a new blank analysis, or use a template or predefined use case to get started quickly.

Basic steps for creating a new analysis

1. Select the technique you want to use to analyze your data.
2. Drag and drop dimensions and metrics from Variables to Tab Settings.
3. The options in Tab Settings vary by technique, and let you fine tune the data you see.
4. Interact with the data by mousing over and clicking.
5. Add segments and filters to refine the data.
6. Create new segments from your data, and export your findings to Remarketing Audiences.

See below for more on creating and editing analyses.

How Analysis works

The default reports in Google Analytics help you monitor your key business metrics. Analysis gives you access to data and analytical techniques that aren't available in reports. Use Analysis to explore your data in depth and answer complex questions about it.

An analysis consists of 3 sections:

Canvas

The large area on the right displays your data using the selected technique. The canvas can have multiple tabs, letting you use multiple techniques in a single analysis. Analysis supports the following techniques:

Exploration

Explore your data in a familiar crosstab layout. You can also apply several different visualization styles in an Exploration, including bar charts, pie charts, line charts, scatter plots and geo maps. Learn more.

Cohort analysis

Gain insights from the behavior and performance of groups of users related by common attributes.

Funnel analysis

Visualize the steps users take to complete tasks on your site or app, and see how you can optimize user experience and identify over- or under-performing audiences. Learn more.

Segment overlap

See how different user segments relate to each other. Use this technique to identify new segments of users who meet complex criteria. Learn more.

User explorer

Examine the users that make up the segments you create or import. You can also drill down into individual user activities. Learn more.

Path analysis

Visualize the paths your users take as they interact with your website and app.

Learn more.

User lifetime

Analyze user behavior and value over their lifetime as a customer.

Learn more.

 

Variables

The panel on the left gives you access to the dimensions, metrics, and segments you can use in the analysis. You can also change the timeframe of the analysis in the Variables panel.

Tab Settings

Use the options in Tab Settings to configure the currently selected tab. Select the technique, add items from Variables, and configure technique-specific options.

Find your way around the analysis editor

1. Return to the Analysis Hub.
2. Choose the Google Analytics account and property for the analysis.
3. Google Marketing Platform header. View notifications, switch organizations, get help and send feedback, and manage your account.
4. Variables. Provides the dimensions, metrics, and segments available for use in this analysis. To minimize the Variables panel, on the right, click . To restore the panel, on the bottom, click .
5. Tab Settings. Specifies the analysis technique and configures the currently displayed visualization. To add dimensions and metrics, or apply segments, click the appropriate target area. You can also drag and drop dimensions, metrics, and segments from variables into Tab Settings.
6. Tabs. Tabs display your visualizations. An analysis can contain up to 10 tabs. To add a new tab, click .
7. Toolbar. Undo and redo changes, export the data, and get additional information about the analysis.
8. Segments. Segments are subsets of users. To apply a segment, double-click it, or drag and drop it from variables into Tab Settings. To create a new segment, click .
9. Select visualization. Changes the appearance of the currently selected technique. For example, you can display an exploration as a table, pie chart, or line graph. Not all techniques have multiple visualizations.
10. Dimensions. Dimensions are the things you want to analyze. Add dimensions to the Breakdown area in Tab Settings.
11. Breakdown, Values, and additional configuration options. These vary by technique and allow you to customize the analysis.
12. Visualization. Displays your data according to the current Tab Settings. To interact with the data , right-click a data point in the visualization.
13. Metrics. Metrics provide the numbers in your analysis. Add metrics to the Values area in Tab Settings.
14. Filters. Focus on the data that's most important to you. You can filter on dimensions, metrics, or both.

Add techniques to the analysis

Techniques govern the way data is analyzed. The default technique for a new blank analysis is the Exploration table. You can add tabs with different (or the same) techniques:

1. At the top of the canvas, click .
2. Select the technique for the new tab
3. If desired, click the tab name to edit it.

To duplicate or remove a tab from the analysis, click the down arrow to the right of its name.

Add dimensions, metrics, and segments to Variables

In Analysis, the term variable refers to the dimensions, metrics, and segments that come from your Google Analytics account. These appear as "chips" in the Variables and Tab Settings panels. New analyses you create come with a default set of variables. You can add more variables to make them available for use in your analysis, and to preload the data for faster visualization.

1. In Variables, to the right of the DIMENSIONS, METRICS, or SEGMENTS section, click .
2. Select the items you want from the list, then click APPLY.

Use the search box to locate the dimension or metric faster.

You can apply up to 20 dimensions and 20 metrics to an analysis. To remove a field and make space for different fields, mouse over the field in Variables and click X.

Add data to Tab Settings

Adding a variable to Tab Settings applies its data to the technique in the current tab. To add data to a technique, you can:

• Double-click a variable. That variable is applied to the Tab Settings in a default location. For example, double-clicking a dimension applies it to the ROWS section of an Exploration analysis, or to the BREAKDOWN DIMENSION section of a Funnel analysis.
• Drag a variable from Variables to Tab Settings. When you begin to drag a variable, the possible landing spots are highlighted.
• Click a landing spot in Tab Settings, then select the variable from the list.

Change the time frame

By default, Google Analytics 4 properties retain 2 months of data. You can adjust this by going to Admin Data Settings Data Retention. Learn more about data retention.

To change the time frame of an analysis:

1. At the top of Variables, click the currently selected date range.
2. Select a preset range, or use the calendar to select a custom range.
3. Click OK.

Share and export the analysis

When you first create an analysis, only you can see it. You can share your insights with your colleagues:

In the upper right, click Share analysis .

Shared analyses can be viewed, but not edited, by anyone who has Read & Analyze permission to the property.

To export the data for use in other tools:

1. In the upper right, click Export data .
2. Select the export format:
   1. Google Sheets
   2. TSV (tab separated values)
   3. CSV (comma separated values)
   4. PDF
   5. PDF (all tabs)

When you export to Sheets, TSV, or CSV formats, all the data available in the selected visualization is exported. This may be more data than is currently displayed. When you export to PDF, only the data currently displayed in the visualization is saved.

Limits of Analysis

Analysis is subject to the following limits:

• You can create up to 200 individual analyses per user per property.
  • You can create up to 500 shared analyses per property.
• You can apply up to 10 segments per analysis.
• You can apply up to 10 filters per tab.

Sampling and data thresholds

You can use Analysis to quickly perform custom queries on large amounts of data. However, your analyses may be based on sampled data if more than 10 million events are part of a particular analysis query.

To protect user privacy, Analysis and Reports are subject to data thresholds. If your analysis includes demographic information or data provided by Google signals, the data may be filtered to remove data that might identify individual users.

When an analysis is subject to either sampling or data thresholds, the icon in the right corner of the analysis changes from green to yellow. A tooltip displays information about the data in the analysis.