Events in Google Analytics 4 let us measure how users interact with a website or app.
In GA4, events are at the core of the data model. Unlike Universal Analytics, where pageviews, events, and e-commerce data lived in a more rigid structure, GA4 is built around events and parameters. That makes event planning even more important if you want the property to collect useful and well-structured data.
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Differences from Universal Analytics events
As I mentioned, events play a much bigger role in GA4, and the platform gives us much more flexibility when deciding how to structure them.
In Universal Analytics, events were based on a fixed schema with fields such as category, action, label, and value. In GA4, the structure is more flexible. The event name is required, and you can also send parameters to add context about what happened. That flexibility is one of the main differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics, and it is one of the reasons why planning your measurement setup properly matters so much.
Types of events in Google Analytics 4
Events in GA4 can be grouped into four categories depending on how they are collected: automatically collected events, enhanced measurement events, recommended events, and custom events.
Automatically collected events
Automatically collected events are recorded by GA4 without any extra setup.
These events are triggered as soon as GA4 is correctly installed on the website or app. Some of the most common examples are first_visit, session_start, and user_engagement.
Enhanced measurement events
Enhanced measurement events are also collected automatically, but only if the feature is enabled in the data stream settings.
They allow you to capture useful interactions without having to configure them manually in Google Tag Manager or through custom code. By default, enhanced measurement can include events such as page_view, scroll, outbound clicks, internal site search, video engagement, and file downloads. These settings can also be enabled or disabled individually.
Recommended events
Recommended events are not collected automatically, but Google does provide predefined event names and expected parameters for many common use cases.
This is important because, when a relevant recommended event already exists, it usually makes sense to use Google’s naming and parameter conventions instead of inventing your own. That helps GA4 understand the event more clearly and makes the data more useful in reporting and future integrations. Examples include login, purchase, generate_lead, sign_up, and search.
Custom events
Custom events are events that you define yourself when the interaction you want to measure is not already covered by automatically collected, enhanced measurement, or recommended events.
Their main advantage is flexibility. You can create event names that match your measurement needs and send the parameters that provide the right context. The trade-off is that GA4 does not treat them with the same built-in reporting logic it applies to recommended events, so in many cases you may need additional configuration, such as custom dimensions or custom metrics, to use that data more effectively in reports.
Planning and setting up events in GA4
When planning your events in GA4, the best approach is to work through the four event types in order.
Start by checking whether the interaction is already collected automatically. If it is, there is nothing else to implement. If it is not, check whether enhanced measurement covers it. Pageviews, scroll tracking, video interactions, site search, outbound clicks, and file downloads often fall into this category.
If the event is not covered there either, the next step is to review Google’s recommended events documentation. When a recommended event exists, it is usually best to use the event name and parameters suggested by Google. Only when none of those options fits should you create a custom event.
For custom event names, it is a good idea to follow the same naming style used in GA4’s standard events: lowercase letters and underscores instead of spaces. A consistent naming convention makes implementation, QA, and reporting much easier over time.
In short, GA4 relies heavily on events, so it is worth understanding the different event types and planning your measurement strategy carefully from the start. Choosing the right event names, using recommended events where possible, and sending the right parameters will make your implementation much more useful in the long run.
