Discrepancy in GA4's Today's Active Users Data

Google Analytics 4

Discrepancy in GA4's Today's Active Users Data

Posted by Leo on 28 May 2023 at 5:31 pm
Hey there, I’m in the middle of moving from UA to GA4 and I’ve noticed that the “Active users today” data I’m getting from the GA4 site/api isn’t lining up. At the moment, our properties which are compatible with GTM are reporting to both UA and GA4, so I thought I’d use one of these properties to illustrate my query.
```
Here are my current metrics from both UA and GA4:
UA Current: 5
UA Today: 92
GA4 Current: 17
GA4 Today: 16
```
While I’m okay with the difference in the current users, what’s bugging me is the count for active users today. The value for UA seems legit but I’m certain the number from GA4 is way off. It doesn’t match up with UA, nor does it make sense how it could be lower than the count for the last 15 minutes!

I don’t think I’m using the API wrong, since I’m seeing the same figures on the analytics site:
- GA4 Values
- UA Today
I’m puzzled as to why this is happening. Do you think GA4 lags behind UA when it comes to processing today’s day in a report?

Cheers,
Joel

P.S. Below is the request I made for my report, pretty straightforward:
```
Here's what it looks like:
RunReportRequest rrr = new RunReportRequest
{
    DateRanges = new List<DateRange> { new DateRange { StartDate = "today", EndDate = "today" } },
    Metrics = new List<Metric> { new Metric { Name = "activeUsers" } },
};
```
Casey replied 1 year ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
2 Replies

Taylor

Member
9 July 2023 at 4:02 am

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Universal Analytics (UA) handle and calculate data differently which might explain the discrepancies you’re seeing. GA4 may take longer to process the data or calculate active users in a different way compared to UA. This might be why the count for active users today in GA4 is lower than in UA and also lower than the count for the last 15 minutes in GA4. If you’re getting the same figures on the analytics site as through the API, it’s less likely to be an API issue. To confirm, you could cross-check if the counting of users in GA4 and UA aligns with your understanding. It could also be beneficial to check these figures over the course of a few days and at various times of the day to account for potential processing delays and differing calculation strategies.
Casey

Member
9 July 2023 at 12:57 pm

Based on Joel’s observation, there seems to be a discrepancy in the “Active users today” data when transitioning from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). The metrics for the current active users are off between the two platforms, but the main issue lies in the count for active users today. The figures being reported on GA4 are not aligning with those on UA, even to the point where GA4 is reporting a daily user count that’s lower than the last 15 minutes. Despite following a straightforward process to request the report, the same anomalies are observed in the analytics site. It raises a question if GA4 is experiencing a delay or backlog in processing today’s data in the report compared to UA.

Discrepancy in GA4's Today's Active Users Data

Taylor

Casey