LRN · GA4 STACK/REV. 2026-06
Sheet— 01 / 10 —GA4
001 ·

Event-based analytics across web and app — set up right, explored deeply, exported to a warehouse.

Measure what people actually do.

Here is the RGM GA4 stack — the practitioner guide to Google Analytics 4. Event tracking and key events, Explorations, audiences, attribution, and the free BigQuery export that turns GA4 into real data infrastructure. Set up for a privacy-first, cookieless world. Start with a pillar, explore the periodic table, or filter the index.

0GA4 guides
0Topic families
0Methods, mapped
0Exploration types

How to read this stack: GA4 rewards a clean event taxonomy and a warehouse. Get the setup right, use Explorations for real analysis, and read the numbers against the 2026 benchmarks.

000
At a glanceQuick answers

The short answers.

GA4 vs UA?Event-based

Every interaction is an event, across web and app.

What counts?Key events

Flag the events that carry business value.

Analyze how?Explorations

Funnel, path and cohort — beyond standard reports.

Attribution?Data-driven default

GA4 models credit across touches.

Scale beyond the UI?BigQuery export

Raw, unsampled, joinable event data.

Privacy?Consent Mode v2

Adjust tags to consent; model the gaps.

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Load-bearing guidesSheet — 02 / 10

Six guides hold the roof.

Start here. GA4 is a stack: clean events, key events, audiences, Explorations, attribution, and export. Learn these six and the rest follows.
Start here
  1. F-01GA4 ultimate guideThe full mental model, end to end.
  2. F-02Conversion trackingMeasure the events that carry value.
  3. F-03ExplorationsWhere real GA4 analysis happens.
  4. F-04AudiencesTurn behavior into exportable audiences.
  5. F-05Attribution modelsData-driven vs rules-based credit.
  6. F-06BigQuery exportRaw, unsampled data in a warehouse.
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The GA4 indexSheet — 03 / 10

Every method, filed.

Look at the GA4 library by family. Filter by name or pick a family. The marquee guides are below, and search opens the rest.

Showing 26 of 26 methods

No method matches that filter. Search the full library — it reads every page.

This is the curated index. Search the complete collection or jump to any family above.

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The map of GA4Sheet — 04 / 10

The periodic table of GA4.

Hover or tap a method. Thirty GA4 methods grouped into six families — setup & config, conversions & events, Explorations, audiences, attribution & metrics, and data & privacy. Filter by family, or hit ★ Core for the ten that anchor most setups. Each tile links to its guide.
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GA4 by the numbers — 2026Sheet — 05 / 10

The numbers you'll read.

Tap a card. GA4 reports engagement, sessions and paths — here are the benchmarks that tell you whether your numbers are healthy, each sourced and linked to the method and the compendium.
56.2%Engagement, not bounce

GA4 engagement rate

DataboxEngagement metric →
Did you know? ↗
2m 38sTime on site

Avg session duration

DataboxUser lifetime →
Did you know? ↗
69.7%Mobile-first data

Mobile share of visits

ContentsquareCross-device →
Did you know? ↗
58.5%The zero-click reality

US zero-click searches

SparkToro / DatosAttribution →
Did you know? ↗
+212%Warehouse the data

MMM adoption YoY

Sellforte / GoogleBigQuery export →
Did you know? ↗
39%Friction is visible

Visits with friction

ContentsquareFunnel exploration →
Did you know? ↗
A metric you can't act on is a vanity metric. GA4 is only as useful as the decisions it changes.
— RGM analysis, 2026

GA4 & engagement benchmarks, 2026 — see the full sourced set in the RGM Benchmarks compendium.

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RGM analytics toolsSheet — 06 / 10

Turn data into decisions.

Use these. RGM ships free calculators for the analysis GA4 feeds — sample size, lift, efficiency — no signup. Take a GA4 number and make it a decision.
RGM ToolA/B Test Sample Size

How many users to detect an effect.

 RGM ToolConversion Lift

Turn a CVR change into revenue.

 RGM ToolIncrementality Lift

The conversions a channel truly drove.

 RGM ToolROAS Calculator

Return on ad spend from GA4 revenue.

 RGM ToolMER Calculator

Blended marketing efficiency.

 RGM ToolCAC Calculator

Cost to acquire, from your data.

 RGM ToolLTV Calculator

Lifetime value from cohorts.

 RGM ToolCustomer Lifetime

How long users stay.

 RGM ToolChurn Rate

Quantify the leak.

 RGM ToolAOV Calculator

Average order value.

 RGM ToolCPC Calculator

Cost per click, fast.

 RGM ToolCPM Calculator

Cost per thousand impressions.

Browse every calculator on the RGM tools floor, or start with the benchmarks compendium.

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MethodSheet — 07 / 10

How to set up GA4.

Five steps. A clean GA4 setup pays back for years. Here is the sequence from stream to warehouse.
  1. Configure data streams and events. Set up your web and app data streams and a clean, named event taxonomy before anything else.
  2. Mark key events. Flag the events that represent real business value as key events so they count as conversions.
  3. Build audiences. Turn behavior into reusable audiences you can analyze and export to ads.
  4. Analyze in Explorations. Use funnel, path and cohort explorations to answer what the standard reports cannot.
  5. Export to BigQuery. Send raw event data to BigQuery for unsampled, joinable analysis beyond the GA4 interface.
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Go deeperSheet — 08 / 10

The deep guides.

Beyond the basics. Each method has a full deep dive — from ecommerce implementation to server-side events and privacy-compliant Consent Mode v2.
Deep guideEcommerce Tracking

The full purchase-funnel event set.

 Deep guideFunnel Exploration

Find where users drop.

 Deep guidePath Exploration

Map the routes users take.

 Deep guideBigQuery Export

Raw data in a warehouse.

 Deep guideServer-Side Events

Durable, controlled tracking.

 Deep guideConsent Mode v2

Privacy-compliant measurement.

Pairs with: tag management in Google Tag Manager and server-side conversions via the Conversions API. Search the full GA4 library →

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The voices — top 12Sheet — 09 / 10

The voices — top 12.

Follow these. The people who define how marketers measure — from GA4 and tag-management specialists to the effectiveness researchers who say what to measure. Each links to a profile.
01Avinash KaushikDigital analytics; outcomes over hits 02Simo AhavaThe definitive GA4 & GTM technical voice 03Ronny KohaviTrustworthy experiments & metrics 04Peter FieldEffectiveness & what to measure 05Les BinetEconometrics & measurement 06Byron SharpReach metrics over vanity 07Rand FishkinAnalytics & zero-click reality 08Sean EllisNorth-star metrics & growth analytics 09Andrew ChenGrowth metrics & retention 10Lenny RachitskyProduct analytics & metrics 11Mark RitsonMeasurement rigor 12Neil PatelAnalytics at scale

Browse all marketing thought leaders →

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FAQSheet — 10 / 10

GA4 questions.

What is GA4?

Google Analytics 4 is Google's event-based analytics platform that replaced Universal Analytics in 2023. Everything is an event, measurement spans web and app, and it is built for a privacy-first, cookieless world. Start with the ultimate guide.

What is the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics?

UA was session- and pageview-based; GA4 is event-based, unifies web and app, uses key events instead of goals, and includes Explorations and free BigQuery export. See the migration guide.

What are key events in GA4?

Key events are GA4's term (formerly conversions) for the events that carry business value, like a purchase. You flag an event as a key event so it is counted and reported as a conversion.

What are GA4 Explorations?

Explorations are GA4's ad-hoc analysis workspace — funnel, path, cohort and segment-overlap techniques that answer questions the standard reports cannot.

Should I export GA4 to BigQuery?

Yes, if you need unsampled, joinable data. The free BigQuery export sends every event to a warehouse where you can run SQL beyond the GA4 interface — the highest-leverage setup step for serious analysis.

What is Consent Mode v2?

Consent Mode v2 adjusts tag behavior based on user consent and models conversions where consent is denied. It is required for advertisers targeting the EEA.

Sources & provenance

  1. GA4 and engagement benchmarks (engagement rate, session duration, mobile share, friction, zero-click, MMM adoption) are drawn from the RGM 2026 Benchmarks compendium, which sources each figure to Databox, Contentsquare, SparkToro and Sellforte/Google.
  2. GA4 family groupings and the periodic-table layout are RGM's synthesis; every tile links to its full guide.
  3. Stack census — RGM analysis, June 2026; GA4 guide counts are live totals from the deployed tree.