[GA4] Migrate App campaigns to use Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 provides comprehensive, privacy-centric analytics to understand user behavior across both web and app-all in one place. Its AI-powered insights also help you optimize your campaign performance. Learn more about the benefits and features you get access to by using Google Analytics 4.

This guide will outline the process of moving from another conversion source to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK.

• If you are running existing App campaigns or web campaigns with app goals, this guide will help you move through the process with less disruptions.
• If you are not currently running App campaigns or web campaigns with app goals, you do not need this guide and should follow the steps to Measure and optimize your App campaign performance using Google Analytics 4.

While GA4 is recommended for the best performance for your ads, these instructions can be used generally to migrate between any supported app SDK simply by following the same steps with the other SDK, wherever GA4 is written.

On this page

• Before you begin
• Identify events and campaigns to migrate
• Identify audiences to migrate
• Compare app conversions
• Compare audiences
• Migrate campaigns and conversion goals
• Migrate audience segments

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Before you begin

• Before starting the migration process, it’s best that you follow the steps to Measure and optimize your App campaign performance using Google Analytics 4 first.
• You should already be using the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK.
• You should have linked GA4 with all Google Ads accounts linked to third-party app analytics.
• You should have already added minimum events to the app, marked them as conversions, and imported into Google ads.

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Identify events and campaigns to migrate

For migration, it's recommended to implement all custom events that you track with your third-party SDK - for example, AppsFlyer or Adjust - either identically or as close as you can manage.

Create a custom report

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Insights and reports drop down in the section menu.
2. Click Report editor.
3. Click + Custom.
4. Select the Table report format.
5. Set the date range to “Last 30 days”.
6. Add the following rows:
   1. Campaign
   2. Campaign Type
   3. Conversion action
   4. Conversion source
7. Add the following columns:
   1. Conversions
8. Click the Filter button .
9. Choose Conversion Source and select Third-party app analytics.
10. Click Apply.

This report will provide a list of all campaigns that have successfully spent in the past 30 days and what conversion events they have spent on. You can use this as a guide for likely conversion events you’ll want to recreate using the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK and which campaigns you’ll migrate.

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Identify audiences to migrate

For best performance, any engagement campaigns that you migrate to GA4 should also replace any audience segments using another source to use segments based on GA4 signals.

This section will guide you through creating a list of campaigns with the segments they are targeting, which will be recreated based on GA4 signals.

Create a custom report

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Insights and reports drop down in the section menu.
2. Click Report editor.
3. Click + Custom.
4. Select the Table report format.
5. Set the date range to "Last 30 days".
6. Add the following rows:
   1. Campaign
   2. Campaign Type
   3. Audience Segment
   4. Audience segment type
7. Add the following filters:
   1. Audience segment type:
      • Under "How they have interacted with your business"
      1. Custom combination segments
      2. App users
8. (Optional) Further filter to only the campaigns identified for migration when you Identify events and campaigns to migrate.
9. Click Apply.

This report provides you with a list of all audience segments currently being targeted by your campaigns. For best performance, any campaigns that migrate to GA4 bidding should also replace any targeted audience segments to use segments based on GA4 events.

For each segment in the list, create a duplicate segment as well as a new segment with the same rules but with Firebase as a source, both with membership durations of 7 days. Once these populate, compare membership sizes between the two segments. Follow the guide to create new segments and perform validations when you Compare audiences.

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Compare app conversions

1. Use the list of conversions gathered when you identified events and campaigns to migrate.
2. Make sure that the listed conversions are implemented in your app, and imported into Google Ads.
3. Follow the guide for your App Attribution Partner (AAP) in this article to minimize discrepancies sent from your AAP to Google Ads.
4. Compare the listed conversions following this article and follow any steps to reduce discrepancies.
5. Once satisfied with the discrepancy between the conversions, proceed to Campaign and audience migration. If migrating engagement campaigns, proceed to Compare audiences.

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Compare audiences

Comparing audience sizes should follow conversion comparisons, as solving validation issues with your conversion events will also resolve issues that cause deviation in audience segment membership.

To validate that the conversion event signals are populating the same memberships for your audience segments, create duplicate segments with the exact same rules, and a new audience segment based on GA4 signals with 7 day membership durations. Monitor the membership population of both the segments for deviations. Follow the detailed instructions below.