What's REALLY Missing in Google Analytics 4 from Universal Analytics

Ever since Google Analytics 4 (GA4) rolled out in October of 2020, the NUMBER ONE complaint I have witnessed is that it's "missing so much".

I have news...

It's actually not 😬

NOW! Before you storm off in a fit of rage, let me make two disclaimers.

I am simply talking about metrics, dimensions, and reports
I am talking about GA4 as it stands today (10/2/2024)

Okay, now that's out of the way, let's get to it!

what metrics are NOT available in ga4

You can still see all of the metrics available in Universal Analytics (UA) in the old Metrics & Dimensions Explorer.

So, with just a quick scrape of the metrics available in the old Explorer and the metrics available in the GA4 Metrics & Dimensions Explorer, we now have the data we need to find what's missing.

I threw both of these datasets into Magai and asked it to identify the metrics that were unique to each platform.

metrics unique to universal analytics:

% New Sessions
Bounce Rate
Pages / Session
Average Time on Page
% Exit

But even this is misguiding.

% New Sessions has been replaced with New / Returning Users.

Bounce Rate is accessible in the actual GA4 platform, but it's just the opposite of Engagement Rate.

Pages / Session is now Views per Session to allow for continuity in Web + App properties.

We are just left with two metrics that are truly MISSING in the GA4 Platform.

Average Time on Page
% Exit

dimensions that are NOT available in ga4

Alright, to be fair, there were some VERY important dimensions missing from GA4 at first (hello, Landing Page, glad to have you back). But, most of them have resurfaced.

Using the same method as before, I compared the Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 dimensions and determined which metrics were ONLY available in UA.

dimensions unique to universal analytics:

User Type (New vs Returning)
Social Network
Social Source Referral
Ad Distribution Network
Ad Slot
Placement Domain
Placement URL

But again, even at a glance, I can tell you that two of these are still available.

User Type has just had a name change and is now New / Returning Users.

Ads Distribution Network is now Google Ads ad network type.

So truly the only MISSING dimensions are those around the Social Media attribution and the more in-depth ads dimensions.

Social Network
Social Source Referral
Ad Slot
Placement Domain
Placement URL

And these could totally be missed, I get it.

Reports missing in GA4

When it comes to reports, again, this is something that has to be looked at with a fresh perspective because at it's release, GA4 was missing some key reports.

However, I pulled all of the main report paths from Universal Analytics and mapped them to the corresponding GA4 reports by hand and found that there are only 5 main reports missing in GA4.

Side note: I did do this by hand, so there is obviously room for error.

Feel free to review the table in the next section, or skip down to the list of missing reports in GA4.

universal analytics to ga4 report mapping

UA Report Path	GA4 Report Path
Realtime > Overview	Realtime
Realtime > Locations	Realtime
Realtime > Traffic sources	Realtime
Realtime > Content	Realtime
Realtime > Events	Realtime
Realtime > Conversions	Realtime
Audience > Overview	User Attributes > Overview
Audience > Active Users	N/A
Audience > LTV	Retention
Audience > Cohort Analysis	Retention
Audience > Audiences	User > User Attributes > Audiences
Audience > Demographics	User > User Attributes > Demographic Details
Audience > Interests	User > User Attributes > Demographic Details
Audience > Geo	User > User Attributes > Demographic Details
Audience > Behavior	User > User Attributes > Audiences
Audience > Technology	User > Tech > Tech details
Audience > Mobile	User > Tech > Tech details
Audience > Cross-Device	N/A
Audience > Custom	User > User Attributes > Audiences
Audience > Benchmarking	(this is rolling out VERY slowly)
Acquisition > Overview	Life Cycle > Acquisition > Overview
Acquisition > All Traffic	Life Cycle > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition
Acquisition > Google Ads	Life Cycle > Acquisition > Overview OR Custom Report
Acquisition > Search Console	Search Console (added through the Library)
Acquisition > Social	N/A
Acquisition > Campaigns	Life Cycle > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition
Behavior > Overview	Engagement > Overview
Behavior > Behavior Flow	Explore > Path Exploration (you build it)
Behavior > Site Content	Engagement > Pages and Screens
Behavior > Site Speed	N/A
Behavior > Site Search	Engagement > Events
Behavior > Events	Engagement > Events
Behavior > Publisher	Advertising > Publishing > Publisher ads
Behavior > Experiments	N/A
Conversions > Goals	Advertising > Conversion performance
Conversions > Ecommerce	Life Cycle > Monetization > Overview
Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels	Advertising > Attribution Paths

Want a visual mapping? I made one for my Get to Know (& use the shit out of) GA4 course. You can preview it since I'm so nice ;)

Reports unique to universal analytics:

Audience > Active Users
Audience > Cross-Device
Acquisition > Social
Behavior > Site Speed
Behavior > Experiments

This is the last time I'll say this (because the post is almost over, I SWEAR!!!) but these findings can be argued a bit.

Audience > Active Users is a bit irrelevant because the active users metrics can be added to any report.

Behavior > Site Speed can be replicated to an extent if you pass site speed to GA4 using Google Tag Manager.

Now we are left with three reports that are truly MISSING from GA4.

Audience > Cross-Device
Acquisition > Social
Behavior > Experiments

SO what, brie?

The goal here is just to remind you that GA4 isn't still hot garbage. It's not missing a ton of information or reports, you might just have to dig a little deeper and push some more buttons.

If it annoys you too much, just hire me and I can do it for you 😅

No but really, the message is:

There is a learning curve, but there is not a lack in data.

Cheers, friends.