Below is an FAQ for our GA4 newsroom partners. We'll be updating this periodically so feel free to check back or send us a question.
Q1. Will I need to re-authorize my Google Analytics?
Yes. And, we’ve created some simple, step-by-step instructions for you to follow (including visual prompts). Read more.
Q2. Will I be able to conduct historical comparisons with GUA and GA4 data?
Yes, but it will be imprecise as GA4 and UA are not fully compatible in how they calculate certain audience metrics, including active users and bounce rate. This article explains those differences, as well as how Metrics for News is processing that data.
Q3. Will I lose my historical GUA data?
No, we will continue to host your historical data on our servers (dating back to when you first connected to Metrics for News). We do recommend that you also backup your UA data, using Big Query for example, before Google cuts off access to your older data - which will likely be later this year.
Q4. Will I need to reset my baseline?
Yes. If you set up a fully functioning GA4 instance before July 1, let us know as we can help you pull in data from prior to July 1 so you can set a new baseline. Otherwise, your engagement scores may seem “off” - mostly lower than expected - for a few weeks, until you can build up a cache of GA4 data to compare against. When you compare GA4 data to UA data, it is not apples to apples so our system might produce lower scores as a result and you'll see relatively "low" ratings for reading times due to the way in which GA4 calculates engaged time on page. We recommend a 3-6 month date range for the best results, but you can do a shorter one-month (say all of July 2023) for now and we’ll remind you in a few months to add to that range. Remember: More data means more meaningful insights.
Q5. Will I have to set up new audiences and loyalty stages?
No, you won’t have to create new ones. But, you will need to go through your various audiences carefully to ensure that they are connected to GA4 segments and not to your previous UA segments. Read this article that walks you through the basic checklist items as you transition to GA4 in MFN.
Q6. Will I have to reset my newsroom priorities?
We recommend that you re-evaluate your newsroom priorities once a year. If you haven’t done this in a while, you could use this analytics switch as your opportunity to examine what you’re tracking in GA4 and MFN to determine if they are still of value to your newsroom. Read this article that walks you through the basic checklist items as you transition to GA4 in MFN.
Q7. Why is my Google Analytics data different from what I see in my MFN dashboard?
There are three possible reasons for this difference. Here they are:
- Reason #1: Time between the last retrieval by Metrics for News
MFN retrieves data at certain times of the day and is not a real-time dashboard, which means the data may be slightly off from what's displayed in the GA account. When does MFN retrieve GA data?
- Every night, MFN updates analytics for stories published in the past 30 days.
- Every Sunday, MFN updates analytics for stories published in the past 90 days.
- If your MFN dashboards are more than 1 day behind and a new story is imported that updates your dashboard to a more recent date, MFN will immediately retrieve analytics for content published on or after that date.
Therefore, engagement may not be accounted for in your MFN dashboard if it occurs after the last time MFN retrieves analytics from your GA account.
- Reason #2: Large amounts of data exceeds GA limits
Google Analytics requires any service to limit the amount of analytics data that's retrieved to prevent overloaded processes. Otherwise, Google Analytics gives a sample of the requested data, which does not consider all analytics data. To avoid sampling, MFN respects the given limitation and may split our data retrieval process into multiple processes if the data amount exceeds the limit. Therefore, in this case, we have to re-combine the collected data from multiple processes. During the re-combining, unique sessions and users may be counted twice and alter the total analytics amounts.
- Reason #3: Small amounts of data doesn't meet GA minimums
When making a data request to GA, if the resulting data report is too small, it may be eliminated from the report altogether. This is due to a minimum data threshold that's applied to reports to protect the privacy of users (Read this GA4 article for reference). Unfortunately, there is no alternative for MFN to retrieve the data other than continuing to wait until the data populates further. Therefore, stories may not contain certain metrics data if they were recently published or have a small amount of engagement.
Q8. What if I am a paying GA 360 client and am not ready to switch to GA4, can I continue to use GA360?
You can! Our system is set up to continue to accept GA if you have your GA 360 account connected to Metrics for News. As an FYI: you may have to reauthorize your Google Analytics to ensure it’s properly connected to your GA360 account and not your old Universal Analytics. Just go to Settings > Initial app setup > Website analytics to see what analytics account is connected to Metrics for News. Make sure the correct property ID shows up in the dropdown menu.
Have additional questions? Email us at support@metricsfornews.com