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Can GA4 construct a funnel using a mix of user_id and user_pseudo_id events?
“So I’ve got a situation where users are first visiting my site, example.com, and they’re given a temporary user_pseudo_id by GA since I’m not assigning any permanent user_id at that time. When they log into auth.example.com, they still just have that user_pseudo_id. Finally, when they get redirected to dash.example.com after authorization, I assign a permanent user_id and send all GA4 events with both the user_id and user_pseudo_id. Now, when I try to build a funnel with GA4, how does it link events with just the user_pseudo_id and events with both IDs? Does it figure out that they’re all from the same user? And when I do set the user_id, does GA start treating them as different users? Also, I’ve noticed that when I build the funnel (from example.com to auth.example.com to dash.example.com), some events are getting lost. Any idea why?”
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2 Replies
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In simple terms, GA4 does understand the connection between events with just the user_pseudo_id and those with both IDs. They’re identified as one user’s actions. When you set a permanent user_id, GA doesn’t treat them as different users; rather, it tracks the journey of the same user. As for lost events in your funnel, it could be a result of several factors like web page unloading before GA can send data or if users have ad blockers enabled. Better debugging could help you figure it out.
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Google Analytics 4 (GA4) employs a feature called ‘Identity Spaces’ to map the user journey across different events. This means that even if the user starts with a pseudo ID and later switches to a permanent user ID, GA4 can link these IDs together and understand they belong to the same user. Hence, it won’t treat them as different users once a permanent user_id is set. However, to ensure accurate tracking, it’s important to include both the user_pseudo_id and the user_id in all subsequent GA4 events once the user_id has been assigned.
As for the ‘lost’ events in the funnel, there are a few possible causes. Firstly, it could be due to the redirection between different subdomains. GA4 sees different subdomains as separate entities and might not track the user journey across them unless you specifically setup cross-domain tracking. Another possibility is tracking prevention mechanisms like ad-blockers, which some users may have installed. These can prevent certain events from being tracked. Lastly, it could be due to the users not following the exact sequence of events in the funnel. For example, if a user skips one event in the funnel, they won’t be included in the final funnel visualization. As such, it’s important to validate your tracking setup and understand your users’ behavior on your site to fix any potential issues.
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