Google Analytics 4 Gets Regex Filtering For Customized Reporting
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Google Analytics 4 Gets Regex Filtering For Customized Reporting

Apr 23, 2024

Google Analytics 4 enhances filters with new match types like regex for more customizable, precise data segmentation.

Google has introduced a new capability for Google Analytics 4 (GA4), allowing you to apply additional filter types to reports.

Now, you can customize reports more granularly using match types such as ‘begins with,’ ‘exactly matches,’ and regex (regular expressions).

Filters allow you to customize the data shown in Google Analytics reports. Filtering can help you better understand your data, spot trends, and drill into specifics.

Report filters enable you to focus on the most relevant data in your reports by hiding the rest. You can find these filters above the charts when viewing a detailed report.

You can apply multiple filters, like looking at particular regions, app versions, or ad units.

Applying a filter will update the chart and table to show the data that matches your filter criteria. This allows you to zero in on the dataset you need to analyze.

The new match type filters give you three options for filtering data:

The partial match and regex filters provide more robust and nuanced ways to filter data compared to filtering exact matches.

Filters are constructed by specifying criteria using dimensions and dimension values.

For example, you could filter the Platform dimension with Android, iOS, and Web values. Or you could filter on the Country dimension with specific countries as the values.

When you select multiple values for a single condition, it uses OR logic – meaning it will match any of those values.

When you have multiple conditions within a filter, it uses AND logic, meaning it must match all requirements.

The new match types in GA4 open many possibilities for simple and complex filtering.

Here are some examples of how you can use the new match types to filter report data:

GA4’s enhanced filters allow you to segment data to surface insights tied to your core SEO KPIs.

You can now create advanced filters to drill into the search engine traffic and landing pages driving results. Leverage match types like “contains” and regex to filter for specific keywords, campaigns, landing page types, and more.

The added filter precision gives you another lever to pull meaningful insights from analytics data.

Featured Image: NanoAgency/Shutterstock

Exact MatchesPartial MatchesRegular Expressions (regex)Finding specific landing pagesAnalyzing specific campaignsDrilling into specific devicesSegmenting traffic sourcesTargeting specific productsFiltering bot traffic