GA4 Isn't UA: 5 Settings Everyone Gets Wrong

Universal Analytics is gone, and GA4 is not a like-for-like replacement. Most teams flip it on, accept the defaults, and inherit five problems that distort their numbers for months.

1. Data retention is set to 2 months

GA4 defaults event-level data retention to 2 months. For most businesses that should be 14 months. Change it under Admin → Data Settings → Data Retention before you lose history you can't get back.

2. Internal traffic isn't filtered

Without an internal-traffic filter, your own team's sessions inflate engagement and pollute conversion data. Define an internal traffic rule and activate the filter — testing mode alone does nothing.

3. Cross-domain tracking is ignored

If checkout, booking, or auth live on a different subdomain or domain, sessions fragment and attribution breaks. Configure cross-domain in Data Streams → Configure tag settings.

4. Unwanted referrals aren't excluded

Payment gateways and SSO providers show up as referral sources, stealing credit from the real channel. Add them to List unwanted referrals.

5. Key events (conversions) are loosely defined

Marking every micro-interaction a key event makes the data meaningless. Pick the handful that actually map to revenue.

Fix these five and your GA4 starts telling the truth.