What it does
Google Analytics measures website and app activity through data streams, tags and SDK integrations. Reports cover acquisition and behavior, with connections to Google's advertising and publishing products.
Google Analytics combines website and app measurement with reports on where visitors came from and what they did. The standard service is free. A Google account is needed, and creating a data stream requires Editor access or higher on the property.
For a website, start with an Analytics account and property, choosing the reporting time zone and currency carefully. In Admin, open Data collection and modification > Data streams, choose Add stream > Web, and enter the site URL and stream name. Review the enhanced-measurement switch before creating the stream: it controls additional automatic event collection.
Next, open the tag instructions. Install the Google tag manually or use the supported integration for your website platform. After installation, use Realtime to check that visits are arriving; Google says collection can take up to 30 minutes to begin. A report without incoming events is a setup problem to resolve before interpreting traffic trends.
App measurement takes a different route through a Firebase project and the relevant app SDK. Teams managing both websites and apps can keep these streams within their measurement structure while configuring each collection method separately.
Strengths
- Supports website and app data streams.
- Connects analytics reporting with Google advertising tools.
Watch out for
- Collection needs the relevant tag or SDK, and stream setup requires sufficient property permissions.
Best for
- Teams measuring website and app activity within Google's marketing ecosystem
Sources
- Google Analytics overview (Oct 27, 2026)
- Set up Analytics for a website or app (Oct 27, 2026)