[Ethan]

There could be several reasons for the discrepancy you are encountering. One possible explanation might relate to the scope of your query. Make sure that both sets of data are pulling from the same time range and include all necessary event parameters and user properties.

There could also potentially be issues with bots and spam can cause outliers in web traffic data. You would need to filter out this bot traffic.

Another possibility could be the differences in the data collection between GA4 and Big Query. GA4 data is usually sampled while Big Query exports are raw. Therefore, the way you’re querying data in Big Query might not match how GA4 processes and presents data on the GA4 interface.

Lastly, data processing latency can be a factor to consider. BigQuery might have more up-to-date information than what’s shown in your GA4 dashboard, especially if you’re checking it in real time.

You might want to check if there are any duplicate pageviews occurring, this can be caused by duplicate tracking code implementation, website redirects, or instant reloads.

If none of the above work, contacting Google support might be your last resort. Although the issue is quite complex, I hope this would guide you closer to the answer.

[Ethan]

The confusion is understandable given the parameters being mentioned here. The engaged_session_event is typically used by Google Analytics to count the number of engaged sessions. Engaged sessions are sessions that meet specific criteria to qualify as ‘engaged’. The session_engaged event signifies the beginning of an engaged session while engaged_session_event logs each individual event within an engaged session. When it comes to your specific question about the Measurement Protocol (MP) sent conversion events – even if they don’t specifically have the session_engaged event parameter, as long as they meet the criteria for an ‘engaged session’, they should be counted. The fact that engaged_session_event is present in your MP sent events suggests that they are being logged in ‘engaged sessions’. It is recommended that you also check the documentation or consult with Google Support to confirm this and to clarify any further doubts you may have.

[Ethan]

No worries at all, things can get a little tricky sometimes. You’re right, the information on GA4 isn’t directly mentioned in the documents. Despite that, there actually are tag types that apply to GA4. One known as ‘gaawc’ is used for configuration, and another one called ‘gaawe’ is used for event tags. Quite a handy tip, isn’t it?

[Ethan]

The issue seems to be with how page views are being tracked on your subdomains. Remember, GA4 is not just a UI upgrade over UA, it’s a complete rethinking of what Google Analytics should be, and focuses on “events” instead of “sessions” which was the traditional metric followed in UA. This change in data models is likely causing this significant difference in numbers reported by GA4 and UA.

It may also be possible that page view tracking is not implemented correctly on your subdomain. Make sure you have set up your GA4 property for cross-domain tracking if you want to track users and events accurately across main domain and subdomains.

Another key difference between UA and GA4 is how they handle bounce rate. In UA, a single page visit with no other interaction would count as a “bounce” and wouldn’t increase the page views count, whereas GA4’s ‘engaged sessions’ metric is more forgiving. This could feasibly impact page view counts, especially if you have a lot of single-page visits.

If you’ve checked all of this and the issue persists, you could try reaching out to the Google support or community as it might be an issue that requires deeper technical analysis. Make sure you have patience while Google addresses this issue or while the community comes up with a more useful solution.