Skip to main content

Using Google Analytics 4 on ZenVideo OTT

Melissa Borup

Google is deprecating support for their Universal Analytics product in July in favor of their new Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking and analytics product. Within this article, you will find the steps to create your new GA4 property and add it to your ZenVideo OTT account.

For additional information on the deprecation of Universal Analytics and the timeline of events involved, please see this Google article. 

In this article

Summary

This is a long support article but only because we want to be as detailed as possible to walk you through these important steps. The process is very simple and can be finished in just a few minutes. You’ll be creating a new Google Analytics 4 property (1 min), configuring it with optimized settings (3 min), and then copying a number into your OTT Site (1 min). You’ll be using GA4 in no time! 

Terms to Understand

  • Google Analytics 4: often referred to simply as “GA4”; this is the next generation of Analytics and insights to understand your traffic and your customers.

  • GA4 Property: a “property” is a collection of destinations. You have a ZenVideo OTT website and you may have an iOS app or Android app. All three together are showing the same content and are considered the same property with three different data streams.

  • Data Stream: a destination for viewing your content. Google Analytics supports three types of data streams; a website, an iOS app, and an Android app. ZenVideo OTT supports the website data stream.

Migrating to Google Analytics 4

If you previously created a Universal Analytics account with Google, you will need to create a new GA4 property to add to your ZenVideo OTT site. 

Use your existing account with Admin privileges, and visit your Universal Analytics account at analytics.google.com. You will be shown a screen like this:

  1. Click Go to Setup Assistant and you will be shown a screen similar to this. 

2. Click Get Started and you will see a pop-up that asks you to confirm creating the new property.

There’s an optional checkbox that allows you to enable data collection using existing analytics.js and gtag.js tags. You can make the selection that is best for you. We recommend checking it.

3. You will now see a confirmation screen. Click Go to your GA4 Property

Configuring your Google Analytics 4 property

Many of the default Google Analytics 4 configurations will work great with ZenVideo OTT but there are a number of optimizations that we recommend. 

  1. Go to analytics.google.com
  2. Choose your property from the top dropdown menu, and select Admin in the lower left panel.
  3. Choose Setup Assistant from the middle Property column.

4. In the Setup Assistant, find the Data Collection section with the Collect website and app data option.

5. Click the arrow on the far right and choose Manage Data Streams.

You’ll see a list of your data streams with a filter along the top for iOS, Android, and Web.

6. Click on the Web data stream and a large panel will slide out with all of your web data stream properties.

7. In the Enhanced Measurement section and make sure the toggle is enabled to the ON position.

8. Click on the Gear icon to enable additional measurements. 

In the side panel that opens; we recommend enabling all of the available options except for Scrolls. You may enable Scrolls if you feel this information will be useful. Be sure to click Save once the toggles are in the ON position.

Now you’re ready to add your Google Analytics 4 property to your ZenVideo OTT site!

Adding your Google Analytics 4 property to your ZenVideo OTT Site

Add your Google Analytics 4 property to your ZenVideo OTT Site:

  1. Go to analytics.google.com, choose your property from the top dropdown menu, and select Admin in the lower left panel. 
  2. Click on  Data Streams from the middle Property column. You’ll see a list of your data streams with a filter along the top for iOS, Android, and Web.
  3. Click on the Web data stream and a large panel will slide out with all of your web data stream properties.
  4. Select the Measurement ID shown in the top right.
  5. Click the Copy icon next to the ID.

Now your Measurement ID is copied to your clipboard.

6. In a new tab, open up your ZenVideo OTT Site Settings and click on Manage> Site.

7. In Site settings, click on Tracking in the left sidebar.

8. Click on the Google Analytics 4 Measurement ID.

9. Paste the ID you just copied into this field and click Save.

 Now your site is configured for GA4 and will start automatically populating data for your Acquisition, Engagement, and Monetization reports. 

Tracked Events in Google Analytics

Event name Event Trigger
page_view each time the page loads or the browser history state is changed by the active site
scroll the first time a user reaches the bottom of each page
session_start when a user engages the app or website
user_engagement when the webpage is in focus for at least one second
view_search_results each time a user performs a site search, indicated by the presence of a URL query parameter
first_visit the first time a user visits a website
form_start the first time a user interacts with a form in a session
form_submit when the user submits a form
file_download when a user clicks a link leading to a file with a common file extension
click each time a user clicks a link that leads away from the current domain
purchase when a user's purchase succeeds
begin_checkout when a user loads the checkout page
sign_up when a user begins a transaction and the new Customer record is created
login when a user has successfully logged in
search when a user has completed a content search

 

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Powered by Zendesk