The GA4 reporting ecosystem is a bit confusing. There are similar things, things that are repeated in different places, but too many areas to look at and too many versions of the same data. This is because GA4 doesn’t really have a single reporting system: There’s not just one query engine, but several that can also coexist in the same type of report.
As we mentioned, GA4 is a system that captures, models, and telemarketing data organizes your users’ data, then presents it through various mechanisms. GA4 offers three reporting systems:
The aggregate system
the basis of standard reporting and the simplest and fastest of the engines that GA4 has.
The granular system:
more detailed and tremendously versatile, but with consideration: evaluating solutions some additional limitations that don’t always allow it to be used.
Exports to BigQuery:
access to raw data without the restrictions of other systems, but it will lack some data that we sometimes miss.
The aggregate system:
Efficiency and speed in standard reports
The aggregate system is the engine Australia Database Directory behind most of the reporting in GA4. This system is agile and efficient because it works with what we might call “summary tables,” which are the source of all its benefits and problems.
Technically, the summary table system functions as an analytical database, a system of dynamic cubes that summarizes the information captured by GA4 and greatly speeds up the retrieval of data and segmentation into dimensions and metrics. Almost all analysis tools use this type of database, which is somewhat different from traditional SQL tables. They require more data processing and ultimately narrow down the possibilities for use.
What ga4 does is not work with all the data at once, but instead generates simple. “Cubes,” which for the sake of clarity we’ll call “Summary tables.” these summary tables are precalculations of the information that is usually. Consulted as a whole. For example, when you work with “Media” analysis. It’s normal to also work with “Sources,” “Campaigns,” and “Channels.” so it makes perfect sense for google analytics to prepare a summary table. With that pre-processed data and all its metrics already calculated. This way, you don’t have to go back and look at the campaigns for each. Event and session received when you request these reports.
