What version of Google Analytics does Better Analyst support?

Better Analyst supports Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Universal Analytics (UA) was sunset by Google in July 2024. If you haven't migrated yet, Google has automatically migrated your property to GA4.

What permissions does Better Analyst need?

Better Analyst only requires read-only access to your Google Analytics data. We use OAuth 2.0 to authenticate securely through Google's official API. We never modify your analytics configuration or data.

How do I connect Google Analytics to Better Analyst?

Click "Connect Google Analytics," sign in with your Google account, and select the GA4 property you want to analyze. The entire process takes less than a minute. No API keys or manual configuration needed.

What data can I analyze with Better Analyst?

You can analyze all standard GA4 metrics including sessions, pageviews, users, bounce rate, session duration, traffic sources, campaigns, conversions, revenue, device categories, geographic data, and more. Ask any question in plain English.

Is my Google Analytics data secure?

Yes. We use enterprise-grade OAuth 2.0 authentication provided by Google. Your credentials are never stored on our servers. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. We maintain read-only access and never modify your analytics setup.

Can I compare time periods in my analytics?

Absolutely. You can ask Better Analyst to compare any time periods — for example, "Compare this month's traffic to last month" or "Show me year-over-year growth in conversions." The AI handles the date calculations automatically.

GA4 Channel Performance Report: Traffic to Revenue

Build a GA4 channel performance report by default channel group: sessions, engagement, key events and revenue, with sample output and setup in Better Analyst.

By David Bressler
Published October 28, 2026
Updated October 28, 2026

Summary

A GA4 channel performance report groups sessions by sessionDefaultChannelGroup (Organic Search, Paid Search, Direct, Email and so on) and shows engagement, key events and revenue for each. Connect your GA4 property to Better Analyst and ask for it in plain English, or build it yourself with the Data API fields listed below.

On this page

Who this report is for
What the report includes
How to build it in Better Analyst from Google Analytics
Questions to ask
Sample output
Charts to use
Keep it up to date
Further reading
FAQ

Who this report is for

Marketing managers and agency account leads who need one table answering 'which channels bring traffic that converts', usually weekly or monthly, without exporting GA4 explorations by hand.

What the report includes

Metrics and dimensions in this report

Metric	Source field	Why it matters
Channel	sessionDefaultChannelGroup	GA4's rules-based grouping of each session's source and medium, so every report uses the same channel definitions.
Sessions	sessions	Volume of visits each channel delivered in the period.
Engaged sessions	engagedSessions	Visits that lasted over 10 seconds, had a key event or viewed 2+ pages: a quality filter on raw traffic.
Engagement rate	engagementRate	Engaged sessions ÷ sessions; shows whether a channel sends people who actually look around.
Key events	keyEvents	Count of the events you marked as key events (GA4's replacement for conversions).
Session key event rate	sessionKeyEventRate	Share of sessions with at least one key event, the fairest conversion comparison across channels of different size.
Revenue	totalRevenue	Purchase, subscription and ad revenue attributed to the channel's sessions.
New users	newUsers	Separates channels that find new audiences from ones that mostly bring back existing visitors.

How to build it in Better Analyst from Google Analytics

In Better Analyst, open Connectors, choose Add Connector, then Google Analytics.
Click Connect with Google and sign in with an account that has Viewer or Admin access to the GA4 property. Better Analyst requests read-only access.
Pick the GA4 account and property from the dropdowns and click Connect. Universal Analytics properties are not supported.
Open a new chat with the GA4 connector and ask for a channel report for a specific range, for example 'last full month compared with the month before'.
Check the generated query and table, then ask for a chart or a web dashboard of the same report.

Questions to ask

“Show sessions, engagement rate, key events and revenue by default channel group for last month versus the previous month.”
“Which channel had the biggest drop in session key event rate this quarter?”
“Compare Organic Search and Paid Search revenue per session for the last 90 days.”
“What share of new users came from each channel this year?”
“Rank channels by revenue and add a column for change versus the same month last year.”

Sample output

Sample data for illustration, not real account data.

Sample data: channel performance for one month (illustrative, not a real property)

Channel	Sessions	Engagement rate	Key events	Key event rate	Revenue
Organic Search	38,420	61.2%	1,152	3.0%	$84,300
Paid Search	14,860	54.8%	624	4.2%	$51,900
Direct	12,300	58.1%	418	3.4%	$36,200
Email	4,950	70.4%	297	6.0%	$28,700
Organic Social	9,710	38.6%	97	1.0%	$5,400

Charts to use

Sessions and revenue by channel (Grouped bar chart): Which channels drive volume versus which drive revenue, side by side.
Key event rate by channel (Horizontal bar chart): Conversion efficiency per channel, sorted so the best converters sit on top.
Channel mix over time (Stacked area chart): How each channel's share of sessions shifts month by month.

Keep it up to date

Save the chat as a scheduled task to rerun the report every Monday or on the 1st of each month and deliver it by email or Slack. To watch a single number, add an alert, for example when Paid Search key events fall by more than 20% versus the previous week.

Frequently asked questions

What is the default channel group in GA4?

It's GA4's built-in classification of each session's source and medium into channels like Organic Search, Paid Search, Direct, Referral, Email and Organic Social. In the Data API the session-scoped dimension is sessionDefaultChannelGroup; firstUserDefaultChannelGroup shows the channel that first acquired the user.

Why don't my channel totals match the GA4 interface exactly?

Small differences usually come from thresholding, date-range time zones, or comparing session-scoped and user-scoped dimensions. Use the same date range, property time zone and scope on both sides.

Can I see Google Ads cost in this report?

Only if your Google Ads account is linked to GA4, which makes cost metrics such as advertiserAdCost available for Google Ads traffic. Better Analyst has no separate ads-platform connector, so costs from other ad networks need to come from a sheet or warehouse table.