Analytics
GA4 acquisition reports: when to use User vs. Traffic acquisition
Choose the GA4 acquisition report that fits your question, align dimensions and metrics, and explain why the same channel can tell two different stories.
Vladlens Kecko · · 4 min read
An email campaign can bring back many visitors without being the source that first brought them to the site. GA4 has two acquisition reports because these are different questions. Choose the report before assembling a channel scorecard, and state its scope next to the result.
1. Choose the report based on the decision
| Business question | Report and dimension | Metric to start with |
|---|---|---|
| Which sources first brought in new users? | User acquisition → First user source / medium | New users |
| Which sources are associated with sessions in this period? | Traffic acquisition → Session source / medium | Sessions and engaged sessions |
| Which interactions receive credit for key events under the selected attribution settings? | An appropriate attribution report, with event-scoped dimensions | Relevant key event and attribution credit |
Google documents the difference between the two acquisition reports and user, session and event scopes. Similar metric names do not make two differently scoped channel rows interchangeable.
2. Keep each export internally consistent
Open Reports and look for User acquisition or Traffic acquisition, usually under Acquisition. Navigation varies by property. Select the same comparison dates, property and stream where applicable. Keep the report’s scope in the export name and use dimensions of that scope for comparisons. Document filters and reporting identity. If campaign traffic is mislabeled, test a tagged destination and review the UTM naming guide before changing the channel report.
3. Explain the gap with one question at a time
In a hypothetical example, an owner sees 24 email sessions but only 3 new users whose first source is email. These numbers describe different populations. The data does not tell you that exactly 21 visitors returned. Use User acquisition to assess first discovery, Traffic acquisition to assess sessions, and the CRM to confirm qualified enquiries. If the variation appears only after switching to a session-scoped dimension, update the scorecard label rather than editing tags on that evidence alone. See Google's Traffic acquisition instructions for the standard report.
Pair this check with the guide to GA4 Unassigned traffic if channels cannot be classified. For help aligning GA4 and lead outcomes, see our tracking and CRM service. Book a free 30-minute founder-led growth review for a short written plan with three priorities.
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