The stories in Google Analytics 4 might be complicated. Take, for instance, acquisition stories — the channels sending visitors to your web site — at Studies > Acquisition. The part lists two varieties of acquisition: consumer and visitors (i.e., classes).
I’ll deal with these stories on this publish.
Site visitors Sources in GA4
“Person acquisition” vs. “Site visitors acquisition”
These two stories within the Acquisition part disclose the place every customer got here from. Person acquisition represents the preliminary supply that introduced the individual to your web site. Site visitors acquisition is the newest.
Say a first-time customer got here to your web site from clicking an natural search itemizing. GA4 will group that preliminary go to within the “Natural search” channel for each stories. But when she leaves and returns a couple of days later from a Fb advert, GA4 will listing the second go to within the “Paid social” channel within the “Site visitors acquisition” report and “Natural search” in “Person acquisition.”
In different phrases, the “Site visitors acquisition” report doesn’t differentiate between new and returning customers. It exhibits the whole classes and the place every originated. The “Person acquisition” report exhibits the whole customers and their preliminary (first-time) supply.
Channels
Each stories present “default channel teams” — traffic-source classes — together with:
- “Direct.” Guests who typed your URL of their browser’s search bar.
- “Natural Search.” Guests who clicked an natural itemizing on Google, Bing. or one other search engine.
- “Natural Social.” Guests who clicked an natural publish on a social media web site.
- “E mail.”
- “Paid Search.”
- “Paid Social.”
- “Referral.” Guests who clicked non-ad hyperlinks on third-party websites.
- “Natural Video.” Guests who clicked non-ad hyperlinks on websites resembling YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo.
For particulars on every channel, click on the drop-down menus on every report. In “Person Acquisition,” click on the “First consumer default channel group” menu and choose “First consumer supply” for the listing of originating domains.

For detailed sources of customers, click on the “First consumer default channel group” menu and choose “First consumer supply.” Click on picture to enlarge.
Within the “Site visitors Acquisition” report, click on “Session default channel group” and choose “Session supply.”

For detailed sources of classes, click on the “Session default channel group” menu and choose “Session supply.” Click on picture to enlarge.
The numbers could also be completely different owing to new versus returning visits.
You possibly can restrict each stories to a single web page by way of the “Add filter” choice on the high.
- Choose “Add filter.”
- Click on “Choose dimensions.”
- Choose “Touchdown web page + question string”
- Choose “comprises” beneath “Match kind.”
- Paste your web page’s URL slug (the half after the “/”) or any phrase (resembling “smaller”) from that URL.
The visitors and consumer acquisition stories will now present knowledge for that URL.

Restrict the acquisition stories to a single web page, resembling this instance for a URL containing “smaller.” Click on picture to enlarge.
In lots of instances, the consumer and visitors acquisition stories are interchangeable. The variations, once more, outcome from returning guests. Regardless, the stories present the sources of visitors — channels that introduce your model and drive return visits.
The stories in Google Analytics 4 might be complicated. Take, for instance, acquisition stories — the channels sending visitors to your web site — at Studies > Acquisition. The part lists two varieties of acquisition: consumer and visitors (i.e., classes).
I’ll deal with these stories on this publish.
Site visitors Sources in GA4
“Person acquisition” vs. “Site visitors acquisition”
These two stories within the Acquisition part disclose the place every customer got here from. Person acquisition represents the preliminary supply that introduced the individual to your web site. Site visitors acquisition is the newest.
Say a first-time customer got here to your web site from clicking an natural search itemizing. GA4 will group that preliminary go to within the “Natural search” channel for each stories. But when she leaves and returns a couple of days later from a Fb advert, GA4 will listing the second go to within the “Paid social” channel within the “Site visitors acquisition” report and “Natural search” in “Person acquisition.”
In different phrases, the “Site visitors acquisition” report doesn’t differentiate between new and returning customers. It exhibits the whole classes and the place every originated. The “Person acquisition” report exhibits the whole customers and their preliminary (first-time) supply.
Channels
Each stories present “default channel teams” — traffic-source classes — together with:
- “Direct.” Guests who typed your URL of their browser’s search bar.
- “Natural Search.” Guests who clicked an natural itemizing on Google, Bing. or one other search engine.
- “Natural Social.” Guests who clicked an natural publish on a social media web site.
- “E mail.”
- “Paid Search.”
- “Paid Social.”
- “Referral.” Guests who clicked non-ad hyperlinks on third-party websites.
- “Natural Video.” Guests who clicked non-ad hyperlinks on websites resembling YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo.
For particulars on every channel, click on the drop-down menus on every report. In “Person Acquisition,” click on the “First consumer default channel group” menu and choose “First consumer supply” for the listing of originating domains.

For detailed sources of customers, click on the “First consumer default channel group” menu and choose “First consumer supply.” Click on picture to enlarge.
Within the “Site visitors Acquisition” report, click on “Session default channel group” and choose “Session supply.”

For detailed sources of classes, click on the “Session default channel group” menu and choose “Session supply.” Click on picture to enlarge.
The numbers could also be completely different owing to new versus returning visits.
You possibly can restrict each stories to a single web page by way of the “Add filter” choice on the high.
- Choose “Add filter.”
- Click on “Choose dimensions.”
- Choose “Touchdown web page + question string”
- Choose “comprises” beneath “Match kind.”
- Paste your web page’s URL slug (the half after the “/”) or any phrase (resembling “smaller”) from that URL.
The visitors and consumer acquisition stories will now present knowledge for that URL.

Restrict the acquisition stories to a single web page, resembling this instance for a URL containing “smaller.” Click on picture to enlarge.
In lots of instances, the consumer and visitors acquisition stories are interchangeable. The variations, once more, outcome from returning guests. Regardless, the stories present the sources of visitors — channels that introduce your model and drive return visits.