How to Use Exploration Reports in Google Analytics 4

#1.2. Tab settings

In this column, you can configure what the report will look like. First, there is a Technique drop-down menu (where you can select from things like Exploration, Funnel Analysis, etc.). In this blog post, I focus only on the Exploration part.

Then you will find the visualization section where you can select from:

• Table
• Donut chart
• Line chart
• Scatterplot
• Bar chart
• Geo map

Each visualization method affects which customization options will be available in that very same column. I usually find myself working with the Table, thus it will get most of my attention in this blog post.

But before that, let me briefly mention some unique settings available in the Line Chart.

Line chart allows you to select the level of granularity (hour, day, week, month). Also, by default, anomaly detection is enabled. This means that you can quickly see if something is not right. There are even two ways how you can tweak it:

• Training period (the longer the period, the more data will be taken into account while calculating the expected value). That’s why I set higher values here.
• Sensitivity. The higher it is, the narrower the area of the expected value will be.

Now back to the Table visualization.

#1.2.1. Segment comparisons

In the Segment comparisons section, you can include up to 4 segments that are already included in the Segments section of the Variables tab.

You can add segments to the Tab Settings column by dragging them from the Variables tab. Also, you can just do double-click in the Variables tab and they will be added automatically.

If you have at least one segment added to the comparisons section, a new field will appear, Pivot. This field is responsible for the placement of segments in the table. It offers 4 options: first row, last row, first column, last column. To better explain the difference, let me show you an example.

I have an exploration report where:

• Two segments are selected: US visitors and Non-US visitors
• Browser dimension is in the Rows section
• Device category dimension is in the Columns section
• Active users is the only metric

All other settings are default. Now I will show you 4 different screenshots. One for each pivot option.

Pivot – first row. The segment is displayed first in every row.

Pivot – last row. Segment comes last after all dimensions in a row.

Pivot – first column. A segment is visible in the first row in each column.

Pivot – last column. The segment name is visible below all dimensions in every column.

#1.2.2. Rows

Here you can decide what dimensions do you want to use in the rows of the table. In the screenshot below, you will see what the report looks like when the Browser dimension is inserted in the Rows section. Every row of that report contains a different browser name.

If you want, you can include multiple dimensions as rows. Then different combinations of all dimensions will be displayed as a separate row. Here’s an example of a report where I have device category and browser as two Row dimensions.

Also, you can select from which row to start and how many rows to display at the same time.

If you work with multiple dimensions, consider switching to nested rows.

Remember my previous report example with two dimensions, browser and device category? Both dimensions were displayed in the same row. If you switch to nested rows, it will look like this:

#1.2.3. Columns

Then you can also add dimensions as columns. Let’s continue the example of browsers and device categories. If I dragged the device category dimension from Rows to Columns, the report would look like this:

Now, every device category has its own column.

Additionally, you can choose from which column do you want to start displaying data.

Also, you can select the maximum number of columns per single dimension. For example, if a dimension has 10 unique values but you set the Show column groups to 5, only the first five dimensions will be displayed.

#1.2.4. Values

Here you can drag metrics that you want to display as columns in the report. The maximum number of metrics added to the Values section of a single report (a.k.a. Tab in the Analysis hub) is 10.

Also, you can select the cell type:

• Bar chart (this will show horizontal bar charts in every metric cell based on its value and the ratio to other rows in the same column)
• Plain text (this will display all cells without any additional visual enhancements)
• Heat map (this will color cells darker if their values are higher compared to other rows of the same dimension column)

#1.2.5. Filters

Here you can quickly narrow down the scope of data you are using. For example, maybe you want to exclude a certain event from the report? Then you can click on the place holder and select the dimension that you are going to use in the filter.

Let’s say that I have a report of events and I want to exclude scrolling events. In that case, I would have to select Event name exactly matches scroll (or whatever name you use for that event).

If multiple filters are included in the report, ALL of them apply to the data.

#1.3. The Output (report)

Once you configure all the necessary things in the Variables and Tab Settings columns, the report should appear. Here you can do several things.

Add new tabs if needed. Every tab can use a different analysis technique (exploration, funnel analysis, etc.). Also, duplicate and delete them by clicking the Triangle icon next to a tab name:

Start over, undo, redo, share the report, download report:

Click the metric label to change the sorting:

Do the right-click on a cell to see additional options:

1. Include selection
2. Exclude selection
3. Create segment from selection
4. View users (in User Explorer report)

Include only selection will add an Include filter (or multiple filters if needed) to the report based on which cell did you click. For example, you can quickly narrow down your report to users, events, etc.

Exclude selection will add an Exclude filter (or multiple filters if needed) to the report based on which cell did you click.

If you accidentally included or excluded selection, you can delete those newly added filters from the Filters section in the Tab Settings column. Or you can click the Undo icon in the top-left corner of the report.

If you click the Create segment option, you will see an interface of segment creation will some conditions will be prefilled.

View users option will open a user explorer report with users that belong to that particular selection. In my screenshot, that option is disabled because I was working with the official GA4 demo account where this feature is not available.

#2. Examples of Exploration reports in Google Analytics 4

Let’s create two sample reports that will help you better understand how Exploration reports (with Table visualization) work.

• Landing page report
• Coupon codes + revenue

#2.1. Landing pages report

If you are an avid Universal Analytics user, you probably visit the Landing Pages report quite often, therefore, you probably miss at least part of it in Google Analytics 4.

Because of an entirely different data model, the Landing Page dimension does not exist anymore. But at the same time, GA4 tracks events called session_start. So what we could do is to create a report where we include only session_start events and display page URLs on which these pages occurred.

Important: the definition of a session is very different between GA4 and Universal Analytics. In UA, many things can affect sessions (UTM parameters, referrer, etc.). In GA4, a session always ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. As a result, your landing page data in GA4 and UA will be quite different.

So here are the settings of the Landing pages report in GA4:

• Technique: Exploration
• Visualization: Table
• Segment comparisons: None
• Rows: Page Path (you might need to add it to the Variables column)
• Values: Event Count, Users
• Filters: Event name exactly matches session_start

I left all other settings as they are. This report is a bare minimum of what you could do. Feel free to add more metrics. The final report will look like this (click the image to view it in greater detail):

I have hidden some fields (from the screenshot above) that I did not use (just so that you could see all the edited settings in the same screenshot.

#2.2. Order coupon code report

If you have implemented Ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics 4, you might be tracking not only purchases but also order coupons that were used at the checkout. If you want to see the report of coupon codes in GA4, here’s what you could do.

This report will show the list of coupon codes that were used and the total value of all orders where those coupons were applied.

Obviously, keep in mind that Google Analytics reports will not be as nearly as accurate as your payment gateway’s reports or something else that allows you to view the data in the backend.

So here are the settings of the order coupon code report in GA4:

• Technique: Exploration
• Visualization: Table
• Segment comparisons: None
• Rows: Order coupon (you will need to add it to the Variables column)
• Values: Transactions, Total Revenue
• Filters: Event name exactly matches purchase
• Then you might see a lot of (not set) values. Do the right click on them and select Exclude selection. This will automatically create an additional filter Order coupon does not exactly match (not set)

#3. Additional things

Some of the following tips were already mentioned in this guide but I just wanted to quickly remind you about them.

• If you go too far with the report and want to quickly start from scratch, click Start over in the top-right corner of the Analysis Hub
• Want to undo one change? Use the undo button (arrow back) in the top-right corner of the Analysis hub. Undid too much? Click the redo button (arrow forward).
• By default, your Analysis Hub reports are visible only to you. If you want to share the report (with Read-only permissions), click the Share icon in the top-right corner. Then other users who have access to the property will be able to see it as well (but not edit it) in the list of Analysis hub. If you want to do changes to a report (created by someone else), you will have to duplicate the report first.
• A green shield in the top-right corner means that no sampling was applied to the report. If the shield is yellow, then sampling has kicked in.
• If you want to unshare the report that is already shared, in the top right corner you will see an un-share icon. You can also go to the list of all reports in the Analysis hub, click 3-dots next to that report, and then un-share.
• Double-click on a segment/dimension/metric in the Variables tab and it will be automatically added to the Tab Settings column.
• Drag a segment/dimension/metric over another metric (in the Tab Settings tab) and it will be replaced.
• Don’t forget to do the right click on the actual report to see what kind of options are available. This applies not only to the Exploration reports.

Exploration reports in Google Analytics 4: Final words

I hope that you are now more familiar with the Exploration reports in Google Analytics 4. It can definitely be tricky to get started (especially if you are not experienced with doing ad-hoc reports) but practice makes it perfect.

Eventually, you will get used to it. Also, I really hope that in the near future, we will have a community template gallery for reports in the analysis hub. That would save us a lot of time. If you are reading this paragraph and you already have the community template gallery, well, then good for you I wish I had it sooner.