GA4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google's current-generation analytics platform, replacing Universal Analytics which was fully sunset in July 2024. Every UK adviser website now collects analytics in GA4 or in a GA4 alternative such as Plausible or Fathom.

GA4 is event-based rather than session-based, which matches the reality of cross-device, multi-session user journeys typical of financial-advice research. Every user interaction is an event with parameters, and sessions are derived from event sequences.

For adviser marketing, four GA4 capabilities matter most. First, enhanced measurement captures outbound clicks, scroll depth, video plays and file downloads without additional tagging, useful for tracking engagement with financial-promotion-approved PDFs. Second, conversion events can be defined from any event and imported into Google Ads as optimisation signals. Third, Consent Mode v2 is required for UK and EU compliance with PECR and GDPR, modelling behaviour from users who decline analytics cookies. Fourth, BigQuery export is free on GA4 (unlike Universal Analytics) and unlocks cross-channel attribution analysis at client-ID level.

Typical weaknesses: sampling on free-tier high-traffic reports, lagged data (24 to 48 hours for complete attribution), and different metric definitions from Universal Analytics that trip up longitudinal reporting.

Best practice for adviser firms: deploy GA4 via Google Tag Manager with Consent Mode v2, define three or four high-signal conversions (booked-call, fact-find-completed, client-agreement-signed), and never rely on GA4 alone for attribution decisions involving more than £3k monthly ad spend.

See also: Consent Mode, BigQuery, conversion event, attribution.