GA4 glossary
Plain-English definitions for the Google Analytics 4 dimensions and metrics used across our recipes - sourced from Google's own Analytics Data API reference.
Metrics
Sessions
The number of sessions that began on your site or app. GA4 starts a new session after 30 minutes of inactivity, or at midnight, by default.
Active users
The number of distinct users who logged an engaged session (or, on web, any session) during the date range. This is GA4's primary user-count metric, replacing Universal Analytics' 'Users'.
New users
The number of users who interacted with your site or app for the first time during the date range.
Views (screenPageViews)
The number of app screens or web pages viewed. Repeated views of the same page count each time. This is GA4's equivalent of Universal Analytics' pageviews.
Engagement rate
The percentage of sessions that were 'engaged' - lasted 10+ seconds, had a conversion event, or had 2+ page/screen views. It's GA4's replacement for (the inverse of) bounce rate.
Average session duration
The average length of a session, in seconds, across the date range.
Conversions
The count of conversion events - events you've marked as a conversion in GA4 admin (e.g. a purchase or a sign-up) - that fired during the date range.
Event count
The number of times a given event fired during the date range.
Dimensions
Device category
The type of device: desktop, mobile, or tablet, inferred from the user agent.
Session default channel group
GA4's automatic bucketing of each session's traffic source into a channel - Organic Search, Direct, Referral, Paid Search, Organic Social, Email, and more - based on source, medium, and campaign.
Landing page
The first page path a user viewed in a session - where that session's traffic actually arrived.
Page path
The portion of the URL after the domain for a viewed page, e.g. /pricing.
Page title
The HTML <title> of a viewed page - often more readable than the raw path in a report.
New vs. returning
Splits users into 'new' (first visit in the lookback window) or 'returning'.
Session source
Where the traffic for a session originated, e.g. google, newsletter, or (direct).
Session medium
The general category of the traffic source for a session, e.g. organic, cpc, referral, or email.
Browser
The web browser used in a session, e.g. Chrome, Safari, or Edge.
Operating system
The operating system of the device used in a session, e.g. iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS.
Event name
The name of a tracked GA4 event, e.g. page_view, purchase, or a custom event you've defined.
Country
The country a user's session is attributed to, derived from IP address.