Understanding Scope in GA4

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), scope is a characteristic that describes the extent to which a GA metric or dimension can be applied. With scope in GA4, Google can apply attribution credit at different levels of granularity. It starts with the smallest scope of the conversion event itself, then looks at the session that led to that conversion, then zooms out to look at the user’s whole journey and how they originally reached your website. Understanding scopes is fundamental to building, interacting with, and interpreting reports in GA4.

In this article, you’ll learn about the three types of scope in GA4, including their traffic source dimensions and available metrics.

User Scope in GA4

User scope is the largest scope in GA4 because it looks at the user’s entire path to purchase within the given lookback window (typically set to 90 days). User scope can be thought of as a first click model, where the original traffic source that brought the user to the website gets “first user” attribution credit.

User Scope Traffic Source Dimensions & Available Metrics

For user scope in GA4, the traffic source must have the prefix First user. User scope can be found in the Traffic source category of Explore reports.

Some dimension examples include:

First user source / medium
First user Google Ads campaign
First user campaign

For user scope, any ecommerce or conversion-related metric should work. Our metric recommendations are:

Conversions
Transactions
Purchase revenue

Session Scope in GA4

Session scope looks at the specific session where a conversion took place and what traffic source brought the user to the site in that moment (unless it was a direct visit, in which case it will look back to the most recent non-direct source). Session scope can be thought of as a last non-direct click model.

Session Scope Traffic Source Dimensions & Available Metrics

For session scope, the traffic source must have the prefix Session. Like user scope, session scope can be found in the Traffic source category of Explore reports.

Some dimension examples include:

Session source/medium
Session default channel grouping
Session Google Ads campaign

Like user scope, any ecommerce or conversion-related metric should work with session scope in GA4. Our metric recommendations are also the same:

Conversions
Transactions
Purchase revenue

Event Scope in GA4

Event scope is different from the others in that it applies the property-level selected attribution model to determine attribution credit.

In a sense, it does look at the full user journey to assign credit, but it’s only available for attributable metrics such as conversions and purchase revenue.

The event that’s being scoped for attributable credit is the conversion event itself, such as a “purchase” event.

These types of event scope attribution models are:

Cross-channel data-driven (recommended)
Cross-channel last click
Google Ads-preferred last click

All models remove credit from direct traffic unless it is the only traffic source present within the lookback window.

Event Scope Traffic Source Dimensions & Available Metrics

For event scope in GA4, there should be no prefix. Event scope can be found in the Attribution category of Explore reports.

Some dimension examples include:

Source / medium
Google Ads campaign
Campaign
Default channel group

Only attributable metrics are available with event scope. Our metric recommendations are:

Conversions
Purchase revenue

The other applicable event-scoped metrics are:

Event value
Total revenue
Total ad revenue

It’s crucial to note that metrics outside of this list will not work as intended, even if you use an event-scoped traffic source dimension.

ROI Tip: Notice that the Transactions metric is not an option here. If you need to drill down to a specific purchase conversion in an account that has multiple defined conversions, you will need to use the Conversions metric and then filter on an event_name of “purchase”.

Book a Meeting to Ensure You’re Reaching Your Full Potential With GA4

What heights could you reach if you had the GA4-certified experts at ROI Revolution to show you the way? Your business should be positioned to thrive, no matter what changes come your way. To explore the difference that comes with having a guide you can trust, book a meeting with our team today.

Looking for more resources to help you with the GA4 transition? Explore more below:

Sources

Google Analytics Help, [GA4] Scopes of traffic-source dimensions.
Google Analytics Help, [GA4] About attribution and attribution modeling.