One of the features that the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) added in the beginning was support for parallel properties. This allowed simultaneous collection of web traffic in two different accounts, which was very valuable in DAP due to the sampled data. When sites received a small amount of traffic compared to the entire VA overall — we found that sites that received less than 4% of the total — could not rely on the accuracy of the data. The sampling of data in GA4 is even worse.

Transitioning to GA4

As with everything else related to GA4, there is a change, but fortunately, it is easy. In the previous version, a parallel property was added to the script using a PUA (universal analytics property ID), so your DAP script would look something like this:

<script  id="_fed_an_ua_tag" language="javascript" src="https://dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?ver=true&agency=VA&pua=ua-46839167-1"></script>

In this example, “pua=ua-46839167-1” represented an OPIA account to see all VA data apart from DAP. A few other sites had their own.

Using this same account converted to GA4 the script should look like this:

<script  id="_fed_an_ua_tag" language="javascript" src="https://dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?ver=true&agency=VA&pga4=G-Y8BBTRX2M1"></script>

The PUA is now a PGA4 ID, but with a catch. Where the “P” was the property ID, in GA4 it is actually the measurement ID of the data stream within a property.

• In your analytics account, you go to the admin sections (gear icon on the bottom left)
• Once you are in the admin area, click on the property details
• In the property details section, click on Data Collections and Modification and select Data Streams
• Select the web property in the data stream
• In the upper right-hand corner, you will see Measurement ID. The begins with a G-. Copy this number and add it to your script.

Video Overview

Additional Parameters

If you need to add additional parameters, such as file types or other property IDS, they are added to the script using an ampersand (e.g., &yt=1&pga4=g-111111). If your site has YouTube videos, you must ensure yt=1 is added to collect play information. The current manual (PDF on GitHub) has additional information but may change after version 8 is released in late June 2024.