3. What
I do
● Technical Analytics Implementations
● Consultancy
● I build tools used by hundred of
thousands analyst across the world :)
www.analytics-debugger.com
Analytics Debugger Extension
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/analytics-
debugger/ilnpmccnfdjdjjikgkefkcegefikecdc
Analytics Debugger for Apps
https://www.analytics-debugger.com/tools/ios-android-debugger/
9. USUAL SCENARIOS
www.analytics-debugger.com
● App not being tracked
● App tracked with Universal Analytics ( sunset July 2023, to be totally
disabled July 2024)
● Someone added the Firebase SDK but not tracking is done ( just
session_start and engagement events )
10. USUAL SCENARIOS
www.analytics-debugger.com
● App not being tracked
● App tracked with Universal Analytics ( sunset July 2023, to be totally
disabled July 2024)
● Someone added the Firebase SDK but not tracking is done ( just
session_start and engagement events )
● Different Apps / Web Tracked on different properties
11. USUAL SCENARIOS
www.analytics-debugger.com
● App not being tracked
● App tracked with Universal Analytics ( sunset July 2023, to be totally
disabled July 2024)
● Someone added the Firebase SDK but not tracking is done ( just
session_start and engagement events )
● Different Apps / Web Tracked on different properties
● No tracking consistency across platforms
13. MAIN CHALLENGES
www.analytics-debugger.com
● Frequent confusion between Firebase Analytics and
Google Analytics 4.
● Incorrect measurement strategy for the current
technology used.
● Lack of unified data model or consistent values across
platforms.
29. THEN… WHAT ARE THE
DIFFERENCES
www.analytics-debugger.com
30. LET’S TAKE A LOOK
www.analytics-debugger.com
● They both are based on events
● They both use Event Parameters , User Properties and Items
● They have auto-generated events
● They share recommended event names and parameters *
● You can see Firebase Analytics on Google Analytics ...
49. MOST COMMON PITFALL
www.analytics-debugger.com
Most people having a web app or an hybrid app, just add a GTAG
Container or does add GA4 via GTM to the webview to have some
tracking in place, but we need to be careful with this since the GTAG
Library
- Doesn’t support environment with no cookies ( non-FQDN hostnames,
incognito iFrames, or some configuration of future privacy updated on the
browsers may break your implementation )
- Doesn’t work if your website is using a custom protocol that is not
http/https(ie: ionic://, file:// )
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/174954288?pli=1
50. What we lose
www.analytics-debugger.com
● Integration with other Firebase Tools . *
● Implementation more prone to data history issues ( cookies cleaning
,etc) . ie: The app will be able to keep your clientId for more time.
● All App related data ( app versions, apps installation, apps uninstall,
proper engagement time, offline/delayed tracking )
● We may not be even be able to have it working depending on some
app/framework configurations.
51. If you still want to keep using
GTAG/GA4
www.analytics-debugger.com
57. Data Consolidation
www.analytics-debugger.com
● Unified event tracking. Now both platforms share a common events
model ( mostly ).
● Roll Up Data: You can send add Firebase and Web Streams to the
same Property
● User-centric measurement: Rather than base the tracking on
sessions or pageviews as before
● Cross-platform reporting: If using an user Id.
61. www.analytics-debugger.com
● We’ll be able to segment the data using the stream_id
or stream_name in the future
● If we pass an user_id we’ll have cross-device reports
● We will be able to see the user journey across the
different devices
● [360] - We could create subproperties if needed
64. Disable the automatic screen recording on
Firebase
www.analytics-debugger.com
can be turned off on iOS by setting FirebaseAutomaticScreenReportingEnabled to NO (Boolean) in the Info.plist.
66. www.analytics-debugger.com
1. Match your App screens with the equivalent
content on the website ( If there’s not
equivalent content, set a virtual pathname )
2. On the manual tracking, send the website
page_path as the screen_class and the
page_title as the screen_name
67. Cross Platform Dimensions
www.analytics-debugger.com
Dimensions
Page path and screen class The page path from a website URL and screen class
from a mobile app.
Page title and screen name The page title from a website and screen name from a
mobile app.
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12926732
68. Cross Platform Metrics
www.analytics-debugger.com
Metrics
view The sum of “page_view” and “screen_view” events
Total revenue The sum of “purchase“, “in_app_purchase“,
“app_store_subscription_renew“, and
“app_store_subscription_convert“ events
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12926732
69. #3. Use a site_id dimension
www.analytics-debugger.com
70. www.analytics-debugger.com
Your ecosystem may be using different domains
or subdomains, and that can be easily filtered
using the “hostname” dimension, still there’s no
hostname on the app tracking. Use a dimension to
identify the different part of your sites.
71. #4. Use a environment dimension
www.analytics-debugger.com
72. www.analytics-debugger.com
Having a website pushing data to a different
Measurement ID is not a big deal, just adding an if
statement in our code or using a simple lookup
table on GTM.
For firebase the things gets a bit worse since you
can only have a project linked to an app.
76. Measurement Protocol
www.analytics-debugger.com
In case the current official SDK’s doesn’t fit your
needs, Google Analytics have a public endpoint
that will accept GA4 Protocol payloads.
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/protocol/ga4
78. FINAL THOUGHTS
www.analytics-debugger.com
● It requires a significant amount of time to
ensure consistency across all platforms
regarding event tracking, and even more effort
is needed for thorough verification, including
checking the values being transmitted.
● There's a higher cost associated with having to
rewrite data during the ETL process due to
inadequate quality assurance.
● If something wasn't tracked, it's permanently
lost.
85. #7. More Tips
www.analytics-debugger.com
● Define a clear name convention from the start
● Use a sanitization routine ( cross-language )
● Define a language to be used for the values , if
it doesn’t use diacritics way better to prevent
cardinality.
86. CREDITS: This presentation template was
created by Slidesgo, including icons by
Flaticon, infographics & images by Freepik and
illustrations by Stories
david@analytics-debugger.com
@thyng
www.analytics-debugger.com
www.thyngster.com
Thanks
Hinweis der Redaktion
LAST ONE
What does GA4 comes to fix
Each of them have their own auto-events
first_visit (app, web)
WEB. hostname, url, title
APP, app_version, device details, etc
Integrations with other Firebase Tools
This is were the first confusion comes, since most of client doesn’t know the difference they end doing the tracking in the wrong.
An Interface exposed an public api/variable to the webview that acts as a wrapper to the firebase sdk.
LAST ISSUE GROUP
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Clients ends having different they apps and webs data spread across different properties and accounts
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
GA has some specific dimensions that merge the data coming from the screenviews and pageviews
Example /contact
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Unified event tracking: GA4 uses a unified event model, where events are collected and reported consistently across both apps and websites. This means that events, such as page views, clicks, conversions, and custom interactions, can be tracked in a similar manner across different platforms.
User-centric measurement: GA4 focuses on measuring user interactions rather than just sessions or pageviews. It uses an enhanced user ID to track users across multiple devices and platforms, allowing for a holistic view of user behavior regardless of whether they interact with the app or website.
Cross-platform reporting: GA4 provides cross-platform reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to analyze user behavior and conversion paths across both apps and websites within the same reporting interface. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and user engagement across different touchpoints.
Useful for tracking places where GTAG may not work properly ( chrome extensions, kiosks, etc )