MeasureCamp is an unconference for data, marketing, and digital analytics professionals. The schedule is created on the day, and speakers are fellow attendees. Fun fact: it has been held for 16 years now, and the very first one was in London.
Since we previously published a blog post about MeasureCamp in Copenhagen, where our dear colleague Nikolina explained it, I won’t delve into what MeasureCamp is. If you’re interested, feel free to check out her blog to find out how it was in Copenhagen.
Also, the cool thing is that you can see Measure Camp from two different perspectives. Copenhagen from a Performance Marketing perspective (as Nikolina works in Marketing) and London from Tracking perspective.
Yeah yeah, I’m the tracking enthusiast here! 😀
So, London MeasureCamp was incredibly interesting, inspiring, and, most importantly, fun!
About Measure Camp London 2023
There was a lot about GA4 since it is a hot topic now in the marketing and data world, BigQuery, Consent Mode and some motivational sessions.
Let me share with you some of the topics that we found most useful and interesting:
GA4 group therapy
For all the GA4 enthusiasts out there, this session was particularly intriguing because it brought to light the fact that we all share similar challenges. Some of us have warmed up to GA4, while others have reservations, but we all agree that this transition period can be somewhat challenging.
People often compare the features UA had with what GA4 lacks, but it’s essential to remember that GA4 is a different tool, and we will adapt to it. Here are some pros and cons discussed during this session:
PROS:
Data Driven Attribution – default attribution in GA4
Improved naming – GA4 has a unified naming convention which means you have to use underscores (e.g add_to_cart), and it is the same as in Firebase, which is very nice. Also, with this you have some visual structure that UA didn’t have.
Custom Solutions – you can customize the whole GA4 interface, which is a very nice touch especially when different departments are using the same property. Also you can easily switch on/off from event to conversion, apply filters, exclude internal traffic, customize every report etc.
CONS:
Can’t share reports and segments – you can’t share reports from GA4 to others, you can just make it visible in the Exploration tab from the same property. Also the segments can’t be shared (like in the UA).
No views and property limit is still on – in the free version of GA4, you can not make views like you had in UA. And the number of properties is limited to 25.
There is no item scope in BigQuery
Threshold applies to standard reports – it’s not showing all the data. It removes unique IDs and very low volume rows from the reports. More data = more sampling.
We also agreed that this is more difficult for people that really worked a lot with Universal Analytics, and that for us who are kind of newbies (like me) in this world, GA4 is totally fine 😀
GA4 tips and tricks by Julius Fedorovicius
Julius’s YouTube videos are one of our go-to resources when it comes to learning about GA4 and tracking. Check it out -> Analytics Mania
He shared a few valuable tricks for GA4, including information about the common issue of missing the session_start event. Some mentioned that Google is aware of this issue and is working on fixing it.
Also, something very interesting is that GA4 has some weird calculations when it comes to currency if it is not USD.
For instance, if your GA4 property is set up in EUR and you’re sending data in EUR, you might expect Google to handle it correctly. But, surprisingly, GA4 receives the currency in EUR, converts it to USD, and then back to EUR.
And that is why you can see weird numbers sometimes, e.g. if the value is 50 EUR and your property is in EUR, sometimes you will receive it as 49.9. And there is no explanation for it. Something you should be aware of when analyzing the data in GA4.
And of course, sampling. Note that standard reports should be unsampled but in the Explorations you should always check if your report is sampled.
Consent Mode
Really useful for those who struggle explaining to clients what is a consent mode. Also the funny thing the guy mentioned is that Google should name it differently because this way it is often mixed with Consent Mangement Platform/pop-up.
Probably all of you had the similar problem, right?
Something to highlight is that we found out that in GA4 you can change reporting identity and it applies to historical data as well. Nice 😉
One more thing to add – be aware that Behavior modelling will not work as expected if you have a lot of data from non-consetend users. So more data from non-consented users means higher chances of mismatch.
Analytics Firewall tool by David Vallejo
If you’re working in tracking, you’ve probably heard of this guy – the one who created the Analytics Debugger extension, which we all find incredibly helpful in our daily work. If you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely should -> Google Analytics Debugger.
He discussed his new feature (that is still partially in progress) that allows anyone to set up a personalized public endpoint capable of receiving Google Analytics 4 Payloads, similar to a Server-side Google Tag Manager (SGTM) endpoint.
The main goal of this tool is to ensure the collection of highly accurate and pristine data for your GA4 implementation. If you’d like to delve deeper, you can check it out here: Analytics Firewall Tool.
Motivational Slumps by Simo Ahava
Do I need to introduce this guy at all?
Or should I just post this picture and let it be?
During his session, Simo Ahava shared his career journey and introduced us to his Simmer project. He left us feeling motivated to learn more, aspire to achieve greater heights, and openly discuss our challenges.
If you’re not familiar with Simo Ahava, do yourself a favor and make your life in tracking easier by diving into his blogs: Simo Ahava’s Blogs.
SegmentStream – Measuring Campaigns
Segmentstream is a Conversion Modeling Platform that offers a next-generation solution for outdated attribution and conversion tracking. In simpler terms, it’s a semi-automated way to perform attribution modeling.
Given the growing emphasis on privacy-first initiatives in today’s tracking landscape and the increasing amount of non-observable data in the future, SegmentStream’s approach is based on modelling conversions using observable data. This provides marketers with valuable insights into channel attribution.
Better BigQuery console experience – KNime
We also explored an intriguing tool called KNime, which offers a user-friendly gateway to BigQuery data. This tool is especially valuable if you have limited knowledge of SQL. The best part? It’s free and compatible with both Windows and Mac (unlike some alternatives such as Alteryx).
KNime simplifies data transformation, particularly when you’re working with consistent schemas across your data. It can serve as a schema builder and data quality tool. Another neat feature is that it pulls data locally, which means that further data manipulations won’t incur extra costs, unlike direct query changes in the BigQuery console.
Note: KNime is a platform of many uses and capabilities, not just BQ connector – so if you are interested, feel free to check out more about Knime functionalities.
There were also some very cool sponsors such as SnowPlow, Meta, Piano, Observe Point, Analytics Boosters, Conductrics etc.
In a nutshell
If all this hasn’t convinced you to attend MeasureCamp, maybe the fact that tickets are free will! Oh, and did we mention that drinks are on the house, and there are some exciting gifts like Lego sets and even a course by Simo Ahava? But seriously, Lego! 😍
