New GA4 Updates and Features (Last 6 Months March 2025)
Some of the best new GA4 features
Comparison Enhancements: Updates in comparisons creation, allowing useful retroactive dashboard reports feature.
Debug View: Improved format toggle, making debugging easier and more intuitive. Data Collection Settings.
More Info Icons: Added explanations on missing session start data.
Notification on High (not set) Rate: GA4 now alerts users when there is a significant percentage of “(not set)” data, allowing quicker issue resolution.
GA4 Non-Personalised Ads (NPAs)
Brief talk-through of the GA4 Updates
If video doesn’t load please visit the YouTube video on GA4 Updates.
Comparisons
Comparisons are an easy to use GA4 dashboards reports tool.
Here you can navigate between the different reports and obtain a side-by-side comparison of the tables of interest, as well as comparisons in the overview cards.
This feature is quite useful for geographic information and also shopping or browsing habits.
To be able to get the Geographic, Gender and device information it is worth remembering that you do need to allow ‘Google Signals’ settings and now further acknowledge the consent. Watch this video for a screen-share talk-through of the how’s and why’s.
If video doesn’t load you can visit the YouTube video on GA4 comparisons reporting here.
Debug view, Data Collection Settings and the
more info icon
Debug view
now has some handy prompts – there are a number of settings required in order for debug to work these relate to consent and privacy mode settings and would be wise to get a check and confirmation on this state, there is also a personalisation notification in the debug view when checking events.
CONSENT SETTINGS
Also in the admin panel is the data collection settings and the new data consent settings, these panel has a number of aknowledgement and privacy settings that you need to update.
There is also a new advanced setting for ads personalisation, which is essential for anyone relying on audiences or data for GAds.
High (not set) Rate Notifications
Apparently there is an icon for reports data showing abnormally high (not-set). If you select the icon there are (apparently) some helpful hints to guide you to the issue causing this void in information.
- I say ‘apparently’ as I don’t currently have any (not set) data to be able to verify or demonstrate this – I will try to update this in the next few days.
NPA - ads personalisation Settings
Non-Personalised Ads
(NPAs) in GA4
Google Ads, audiences require a minimum size (usually 1,000 active users in the last 30 days) before they can be used for remarketing and similar targeting. For smaller businesses, marking all Google Analytics 4 (GA4) events as NPA (Non-Personalised Ads) can simplify compliance and avoid potential personalization-related restrictions in Google Ads.
However, there are some trade-offs:
Limited Remarketing & Audience Targeting:
Marking events as NPA means they cannot be used for remarketing or tailored audience creation in Google Ads.
Even if a small business struggles to reach the 1,000-user threshold, allowing personalized ads can still be beneficial for audience-based bidding strategies (e.g., similar audiences, customer match).
Does the Same Apply to Microsoft Ads?
Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) has similar audience minimum size requirements:
Search & Audience Ads: Minimum 300 users.
Display & Remarketing Ads: Minimum 1,000 users (like Google Ads).
However, Microsoft Ads doesn’t rely on GA4 for audience building—it uses Universal Event Tracking (UET), which has its own data handling policies. If privacy concerns arise, businesses can use consent mode or configure UET for non-personalized tracking, but there’s no exact equivalent to GA4’s NPA flag in Microsoft Ads.
Guidance for Different Business Sizes:
The decision to mark events as NPA (Non-Personalised Ads) depends on the size and goals of the business, as well as compliance and ad performance considerations. Here’s how different business types should approach it:
Startups (Pre-Revenue, Just Launching, Limited Traffic)
Recommendation: Mark All Events as NPA
At this stage, audience-based remarketing is not critical because traffic is too low to create effective audiences in Google Ads (needs 1,000+ users in the last 30 days).
Compliance is simpler, avoiding personalisation concerns from day one.
Focus should be on organic growth, broad interest-based ads, and conversion tracking rather than personalised remarketing.
What to Do?
✅ Set all GA4 events as NPA to prevent personalised ads.
✅ Use broad interest-based targeting and search intent keywords in Google Ads instead of audience-based targeting.
✅ Implement Consent Mode, so when users do not consent, GA4 adjusts how it collects data without full loss of attribution.
Small Businesses (Growing but Still Below 1,000 Monthly Users)
Recommendation: Mostly NPA, But Keep Some Events Personalized
The business is still unlikely to hit the 1,000-user remarketing threshold, so full personalisation isn’t as useful.
However, certain conversion events (e.g., purchases, lead form submissions, add-to-cart) should not be marked as NPA.
These conversion events help optimise bidding strategies (even if remarketing is not yet viable).
What to Do?
✅ Keep most standard GA4 events (pageviews, scrolls, clicks) as NPA.
✅ Do NOT mark high-intent actions as NPA (e.g., purchase, generate_lead, add_to_cart).
✅ Ensure Consent Mode is enabled for future flexibility.
SMEs (Hitting 1,000+ Users, Actively Running Ads & Growing)
Recommendation: Keep NPA Off (Allow Personalized Ads, But Stay Compliant)
At this stage, audience-based remarketing is effective, so marking events as NPA would cripple performance in Google Ads.
Instead of NPA, businesses should use Consent Mode to comply with regulations while maximizing data.
Personalised ad strategies (e.g., customer match, retargeting) now bring real benefits.
What to Do?
✅ Keep all key events personalised (unless legally required otherwise – areas of healthcare for example).
✅ Use Consent Mode to adjust tracking based on user preferences.
✅ Start testing remarketing audiences and dynamic ads.
Larger Companies (Scaling, Multi-Channel Marketing, Compliance Focus)
Recommendation: Use a Hybrid Approach with Full Consent Management
Compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy laws becomes critical at this stage.
Large brands can afford to lose some tracking in exchange for legal safety.
Data privacy policies should align with a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
What to Do?
✅ Implement full Consent Mode (e.g., Google Tag Manager with a Consent Management Platform).
✅ Mark events as NPA only in regions requiring strict compliance or to prevent teams from creatiing personalisation on events that should not be used to – to help simplify process and control outcomes.
✅ Use Server-Side Tagging for better data control.
✅ Focus on first-party data strategies (email lists, CRM integrations).
