Discover what crossnetwork is in GA4, how this traffic channel works, and tips for conducting your analyses on the platform.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) introduced several innovations for data analysis and understanding user behavior. Among these features, one that has generated interest is crossnetwork a group of channels that indicates traffic from various advertising platforms.
But if you’re not sure what this feature means or how it works, don’t worry. In this article, we will explore what crossnetwork is in GA4 and how to interpret your data to optimize your paid traffic strategies. Follow along.
What is crossnetwork in GA4 and how does it work?
In the context of Google Analytics 4, crossnetwork is a channel that groups traffic coming to your site or app through ads displayed on multiple Google networks.
In other words, these accesses can come from any platform where your ads may appear, including the Search Network, Display Network, YouTube, Gmail, and Discover.
Automatically created by Google, crossnetwork provides marketers with a unified view of how paid campaigns spanning different networks contribute to conversions in Google Analytics and Google Ads.
This allows for a better understanding of the combined performance of campaigns that operate across various platforms without the need to manually aggregate data.
Therefore, by using crossnetwork, you can:
- Obtain a holistic view of campaigns, understand how different types of campaigns are working together to generate conversions.
- Analyze combined performance, evaluate the collective impact of campaigns across various networks.
- Optimize marketing strategies, identify which campaigns and networks are bringing better results and adjust your investments accordingly.
In other words, crossnetwork simplifies the campaign analysis process and provides insights to optimize the results obtained from your ads.
Which campaigns does this traffic channel cover?
The crossnetwork covers specific types of Google Ads campaigns that run ads across multiple Google networks such as
- Performance Max (PMax), which enables ad delivery across all Google platforms using artificial intelligence to manage bidding, budgets, and optimization.
- Discovery, are campaigns aimed at reaching users on platforms where they are likely to explore new content such as YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Gmail, and the Google Discover feed.
These campaigns are designed to capture user engagement at different stages of the buying journey, allowing advertisers to reach their target audience more effectively.
Previously, Smart Shopping campaigns were included in crossnetwork. However, they were discontinued in 2022 and are no longer part of this channel in GA4.
Advantages of crossnetwork for marketing analyses
Based on what we’ve seen so far, using crossnetwork in GA4 offers several benefits for marketers’ analyses, such as:
- Holistic measurement, by combining interactions from various campaigns into a single channel, you get a consolidated view of the overall performance of your campaigns across different networks.
- Ease of analysis, eliminates the need to manually aggregate data from multiple campaigns, simplifying the analysis process and saving time.
- Investment optimization, by understanding which campaigns and networks are generating better results, you can allocate your resources more efficiently to maximize return on investment (ROI);
- Improvement in conversion attribution, identifies how different campaigns contribute to conversions at different stages of the marketing funnel.
- Customer journey monitoring, allows you to visualize user touchpoints throughout their journey from the initial engagement to the final conversion.
With this, you can work on Google Ads campaigns in a more personalized way and make them more efficient according to your potential customer’s buying journey.
How to analyze data in GA4
However, for crossnetwork to be truly advantageous for your strategy, you need to know how to analyze data in GA4. Therefore, below, we detail the steps and resources you can use in this process.
1. Access the Acquisition reports.
To begin, one of the main places to analyze crossnetwork data is the Acquisition report in Google Analytics. Therefore, navigate to the Acquisition section in the platform’s sidebar to access user access and total traffic information.
Within these reports, crossnetwork will appear as a specific channel, allowing you to view metrics such as number of new users, sessions, and engagement from these campaigns.
2. Use secondary dimensions.
To deepen the analysis, add secondary dimensions to your reports. Click on Add Dimension and select options like Campaign, Source/Medium, or Session Origin Platform.
This will allow you to identify which specific campaigns contribute to the crossnetwork channel, providing insights into the individual performance of each one.
3. Explore the Advertising reports.
In the Advertising section, select Attribution Paths. This report shows the different paths users take before converting.
From there, observe how crossnetwork appears at different touchpoints, identifying if it more frequently acts as an initial, intermediate, or final channel.
4. Use exploratory analysis
Finally, in the Analyze section of GA4, you can create custom analyses. When setting it up, select Crossnetwork as a dimension or filter to focus specifically on this channel.
Additionally, analyze crossnetwork in relation to other metrics and dimensions such as Engagement Time, Conversion Value, and Geographic Location to have a more specific view of its performance.
Continuous monitoring and adjustments
Regardless of the formats chosen, establish a routine to review crossnetwork data to identify trends and improvement opportunities from your campaigns.
In other words, use the insights obtained to optimize your ads, adjust budgets, and refine targeting strategies.
Make your analyses even more efficient with Reportei.
In addition to monitoring your results through GA4 itself, you can also rely on Reportei’s reports and dashboards to track the tool’s evolution and its new way of delivering more comprehensive data aligned with the customer journey.
Just like in Google Analytics, you have access to all the main site performance metrics, with a stronger focus on the sales funnel stages. In other words, you can access your attraction, engagement, monetization, and retention data in just three seconds, besides gaining more time for strategic analyses and planning the next steps.
Moreover, as Reportei also integrates with Google Ads, it is possible to perform campaign and traffic analysis in a single panel, making everything even simpler and more efficient.
The best part is that the GA4 reports and dashboards can be customized to include the metrics, tables, and charts deemed most important for your project.
Along with this, it is possible to perform analyses using artificial intelligence, and obtain even more precise insights into the performance of your site and campaigns.
What are you waiting for? Take a free trial and make the most of Reportei’s features to generate your GA4 reports and dashboards.
