Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a web analytics tool and the successor to Universal Google Analytics, which was discontinued in July 2024. GA4 provides metrics and dimensions for website traffic and user experience on GitLab’s web properties, including:

• about.gitlab.com
• docs.gitlab.com
• page.gitlab.com
• learn.gitlab.com
• university.gitlab.com
• forum.gitlab.com
• customers.gitlab.com (checkout pages)
• gitlab.com (registration pages)
  • /sign_up/
  • /users/sign_in
  • /users/almost_there
  • /users/sign_up/welcome
  • /users/sign_up/company/new
  • /users/sign_up/groups/new
  • /users/terms
  • /users/sign_up/groups
  • /trial_registrations
  • /trial_registrations/new
  • /trials/new
  • /profile/usage_quotas
  • /subscriptions/new
  • /subscriptions/buy_minutes

Google Consent Mode

To ensure compliance with privacy requirements related to cookie consent, GA4 employs a hybrid approach that combines actual data (via 1st-party cookies) and anonymized data (cookieless pings). When a website visitor declines analytics cookies, Google Analytics refrains from placing any cookies in the browser. Instead, it transmits a cookieless payload that includes user agent information and geolocation data to Google Analytics servers. This updated version of GA4 enhances data integrity by recording events even when cookies are denied, effectively capturing all events. However, without client IDs for denied consent, conversions cannot be properly attributed. In cases where users have enabled DNT (Do Not Track) or GPC (Global Privacy Control) signals in their browser settings, no data is collected whatsoever.

OneTrust is the cookie consent managedment tool. View the banner matrix and geolocation rules in data collection on this handbook. OneTrust cookie categories are mapped to Google Consent Mode categories.

Events

All data collected in GA4 is tracked as an event, each of which can contain parameters to store additional information. Below is the complete list of events along with their associated parameters as of July 2024:

Event Name	Event Parameters	Event Description
cta_click	cta_click_location cta_click_name	Link clicks, including the page section and element name.
navigation_menu_click	navigation_menu_level1 navigation_menu_level2	Link clicks from the navigation menu
video_start	video_title video_id video_host	Video play, including title, ID, and hosting platform.
video_progress_25	video_title video_id video_host	Video play pass the 25% milestone, including title, ID, and hosting platform.
video_progress_50	video_title video_id video_host	Video play pass the 50% milestone, including title, ID, and hosting platform.
video_progress_75	video_title video_id video_host	Video play pass the 75% milestone, including title, ID, and hosting platform.
video_complete	video_title video_id video_host	Video complete, including title, ID, and hosting platform.
pricing_faq_expand	pricing_faq_question	FAQ toggle to expand on the Pricing page, including the FAQ question.
pricing_faq_collapse	pricing_faq_question	FAQ toggle to collapse on the Pricing page, including the FAQ question.
pricing_feature_expand		Feature section toggle to expand on the Pricing page.
pricing_feature_collapse		Feature section toggle to collapse on the Pricing page.
pricing_feature_info_click	pricing_feature	Pricing page bullet point info click, including the feature name.
pricing_user_calculator		User calculator on the /pricing/premium/ and /pricing/ultimate/ page. The trigger will fire when a number is inputted into the fields.
account_register	register_method register_type	Account registrations on the Trials Registration and Sign Up pages, including form submissions and SSO clicks.
saas_trial_form		Form submission on the “Start Your Ultimate Trial” page. This is a conversion point for SaaS trial. Returning users can reach this page with an existing GitLab account.
saas_trial_company	saas_trial_company_type	Form submission on the “About Your Company” page. This is a conversion point for SaaS trial. New users can reach this page from the account registration flows.
saas_trial_create_group		Form submission on the “Almost There” page within the SaaS trial. Returning users can reach this page after the “Start Your Ultimate Trial” page.
saas_trial_create_group_project		Form submission on the “Create or Import Your First Project” page. New users can reach this page after the “About Your Company” page.
saas_trial_import_project	saas_trial_import_project_platform	Click on a platform CTA on the “Create or Import Your First Project” page. New users can reach this page after the “About Your Company” page.
form_submit	form_type form_id	Lead generating form submissions across the About, Page, and Learn subdomains, including the form ID and type.
scroll_depth_25		Vertical page scroll passing the 25% depth.
scroll_depth_50		Vertical page scroll passing the 50% depth.
scroll_depth_75		Vertical page scroll passing the 75% depth.
scroll_depth_100		Vertical page scroll passing the 100% depth.
search_suggestion	searched_query	Site search suggestion click, including the searched query.
search_result	searched_query	Search result load, including the searched query.
search_result_click	searched_query	Click on a search result item, including the searched query.
search_filter	searched_query search_source_name	Filter selection on the search result page, including the filter name and searched query.
search_sort	searched_query search_sort_name	Sorting the search result, including the sort name and searched query.
features_stage_click	features_stage	Stage tab clicks on the Features page, including the stage name.
features_category_click	features_stage features_category	Category click for each stage on the Features page, including the stage and category name.
cta_click	cta_click_location cta_click_name features_stage features_category features_card	Link click on the Features page, including the stage, category, Features card title, and element name.
features_filter	features_stage features_filter_tier	Filtering cards by pricing tier on Features page, including the stage and tier.
language_selection	language_selected	Localization language drop-down menu selection
qualified_event	“qualified_category qualified_action”	Qualified chat bot interactions: conversation started, email submission, and meetings booked.
navattic_demo	“navattic_event_name navattic_flow_name navattic_project_name navattic_click_url navattic_step_number”	Navattic interactive demos (e.g. https://about.gitlab.com/small-business/)
6sense_loaded	“Sixsense Employee Range Sixsense Confidence Sixsense Country Sixsense Blacklisted Sixsense Sales Segment Sixsense Company Sixsense Industry Sixsense Revenue Range”	6sense web script successfully loads per pageview. The event parameters are then stored on the user-scope, which is attached to the client ID on subsequent events.
saas_trial_duopro		Duo Pro trial registration on gitlab.com/-/trials/duo_pro/new - 4/1/24

Custom Dimensions

Out of the box, GA4 includes dimensions like device and geolocation that can further break down events. Custom dimensions are set up to enhance the analysis of website visitors. 6sense, an ABM tool that identifies visitors at the company level, is integrated with the GA4 data set. The following 6sense dimensions are set on the user scope, which applies to all events for a particular client ID if the user consents to analytics cookies.

Dimension	Description	Example Value	Snowflake Column
Sixsense Employee Range	The visitor’s company employee range	1,000 - 4,999	SSENSE_EMPLOYEE_RANGE
Sixsense Confidence	How confident 6Sense is at identifying the user	Low, moderate, high	SSENSE_CONFIDENCE
Sixsense Country	The visitor’s company country	United States	SSENSE_COUNTRY
Sixsense Blacklisted	If the visitor’s company is blacklisted	false	SSENSE_BLACKLISTED
Sixsense Sales Segment	The visitor’s company scale based on employee range	SMB, Enterprise, Mid-market	SSENSE_SALES_SEGMENT
Sixsense Company	The visitor’s company name	GitLab	SSENSE_COMPANY
Sixsense Industry	The visitor’s company industry	Software and Technology	SSENSE_INDUSTRY
Sixsense Revenue Range	The visitor’s company revenue range	$1M - $5M	SSENSE_REVENUE_RANGE

Ecommerce

The eCommerce Purchase report, under the Monetization tab, details e-commerce activities on the Pricing and Checkout pages. Item parameters can be used as dimensions to break down the desired event. The following table outlines the e-commerce events and the associated item parameters.

Event Name	Event Description	Event Parameters	Item Parameters
view_item	On “Buy Premium” or “Buy Ultimate” CTA click on the Pricing page.	-	item_id (01 = Ultimate, 02 = Premium) item_name (Ultimate, Premium) item_category (DevOps)
add_to_cart	On “Purchase SaaS” or “Purchase Self Managed” click on the Pricing page.	-	item_id item_name item_category item_category2 (SaaS)
begin_checkout	Checkout page load.	-	item_id item_name item_category item_category2
purchase	A successful transaction on the Checkout page.	transaction id revenue currency tax	item_id item_name item_category item_category2 item_price item_quantity

Note: The purchase event is not to be confused with annual recurring revenue, as it only tracks the initial self-service transaction, not the annual recurring transactions.

Key Events

A “key event” is a conversion metric that measures important events on the website that align with business goals. Events collected in GA4 can be configured as a conversion. The following table outlines a list of conversions and its definition based on event conditions.

Conversions	Event Conditions	Description
generate_lead	form_submit event where the form_type dimension does not equal “self managed trial” or “newsletter”	All Marketo form submissions across gitlab.com web properties, excluding blog subscription and self-managed trials.
saas_trial	saas_trial_form event and saas_trial_company event where the saas_trial_company_type equals “ultimate_trial”	SaaS trial form submissions on the About Your Company and Start Your Free Ultimate Trial pages.
self_managed_trial	form_submit event where the form_type dimension equals “self managed trial”	Self-managed trial form submission on the Free Trial page.
purchase	purchase event	A successful transaction on the Checkout page.
qualified_email_submit	-	An email submission via the Qualified chat bot.
qualified_meeting_booked	-	A scheduled meeting with Sales via the Qualified chat bot.

Attribution

The Acquisition reports under the Reports pane offers an overview of traffic’s referrer based on the session. Key metrics can be paired with the following dimensions: default channel grouping, source, medium, and campaign.

When UTM parameters are applied to the landing page URL, Google Analytics will sort the traffic based on the UTM parameters or document.referrer (if UTMs are not available) into the correlated channel grouping, source, medium, and campaign. Read more about the UTM strategy here.

Conversions can be selected from a drop-down menu located in the top left corner of the reporting UI.

To view different attribution models, view the Model Comparison report under the Advertising pane. Select the desired attribution model to analyze the advertising platform’s impact on conversions according to the user’s journey. For example, display ads may be part of a brand awareness strategy, and may drive fewer last-click conversions; however, may be more impactful at driving first-click conversions. Read more about the GA4 attribution models here.

Exploration

The Exploration pane provides a user-friendly method to create and visualize a custom analytics report. Dimensions and events can be drag-and-drop, and the visualization will update in real-time. Available visuals: tables, donut charts, line charts, scatter plots, bar charts, and maps. Within the table visual, different techniques can be applied: free form, cohort, funnel, segment overlap, path exploration, user exploration, and user lifetime. The exploration report provides a self-service way to generate a report or monitor trends over time. Refer to the Events Google Sheet to start building your custom report.

Data Availability for Advanced Visualization

Data Flow

GA4 natively exports daily events into BigQuery project name mktg-goog-analytics4-5e6dc7d6. The Enterprise Data team exports the GA4 events from BigQuery into these Snowflake tables:

• PROD.WORKSPACE_MARKETING.WK_GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_4_EVENTS
• PROD.WORKSPACE_MARKETING.WK_GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_4_PSEUDONYMOUS_USERS

GA4 data is available from 12/24/2023 onwards. Please use GA360 tables for prior historical data:

• PROD.LEGACY.GA360_SESSION_HIT
• PROD.LEGACY.GA360_SESSION

Join Product Data

Snowplow is a SQL-based web analytics tool and the main tool for analyzing product data. Snowplow includes a column that pulls in the GA4 client ID, made available by the Analytics Implementation team leveraging the GA cookie plug-in from Snowplow. The client ID can be used as a primary key between GA4 and Snowplow. The namespace ID in Snowplow is available to join with other tables regarding web-to-product usage.

• PROD.COMMON.FCT_BEHAVIOR_WEBSITE_PAGE_VIEW
• PROD.COMMON_PREP.PREP_SNOWPLOW_SESSIONS_ALL (to be updated to a new table)

Join SFDC Data

Marketo forms include hidden fields that collect the GA4 client ID on about.gitlab.com, page.gitlab.com, and learn.gitlab.com. Look for the GACLIENTID__c field to find it. Marketo will then feed the client ID to SFDC tables, allowing us to analyze web-to-sales assisted subscriptions.

Dashboards

Tableau is recommended for advanced BI data visualization, particularly when connecting web data to other sources (e.g., linking web visitors to paid subscriptions), leveraging the GA client ID.

For visualization focused solely on web data, consider using Looker Studio for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface. This allows for faster dashboard creation without the need to create a SQL CTE for each metric, unless you’re using BigQuery.