[GA4] Create or modify key events

Overview

Sometimes an event nearly measures what you want to measure as a key event. For example, you want to measure when someone lands on a confirmation page. The page_view event will tell you when someone lands on the page, but you can't mark that event as a key event since all pageviews will then count as key events.

Instead, you can modify existing events and create new events from existing events within Google Analytics so you can mark the events as key events without needing to change your website or app setup.

Create vs. modify

You can create and modify events in Google Analytics. Modifying an event is a way of changing an existing event so it measures what you want it to measure. Creating an event copies over an existing event so you can measure what you want to measure without changing the original event.

Create an event in Analytics

These instructions show you how to create a new event from the page_view event. In this example, you want the event to trigger when someone submits their contact information and lands on a confirmation page. You can then mark the event as a key event to see the number of people who successfully submit their contact information.

For more information on how to create an event from an existing event and mark it as a key event, watch Create Events in Google Analytics 4 Properties on YouTube.

Create the event

Without code

1. In Admin, under Data display, click Events.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector. You must be a Viewer or above  at the property level to create the event.
2. Click + Create event.
3. In Event name, enter the name in this example as thank_you.
4. (Optional) Click the toggle next to Mark as key event, and then select your preferred Default key event value and Counting method.
5. In Choose how to create an event, select Create without code.
6. Choose "page_view" from the Event name dropdown.
7. Enter "https://example.com/thank-you.html" in the URL text field.
8. Click Create.

The new event will appear in the Custom events table, but it won't appear in the Recent events tab in Admin > Data display > Events until Analytics processes the event.

With code

1. In Admin, under Data display, click Events.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector. You must be a Marketer or above at the property level to mark the new event as a key event.
2. Click + Create event.
3. In Event name, enter the name in this example as thank_you.
4. (Optional) Click the toggle next to Mark as key event, and then select your preferred Default key event value and Counting method.
5. In Choose how to create an event, select Create with code. You can install code on your website or app to identify the event you want to measure.
6. Click Create.

The new event will appear in the Custom events table, but it won't appear in the Recent events tab in Admin > Data display > Events until Analytics processes the event.

Modify an event in Analytics

This section describes how to modify an event that was created in Analytics based on another event. For information on modifying events provided by Google, see the event documentation.

1. In Admin, under Data display, click Events.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector. You must be a Viewer or above  at the property level to modify an event in Analytics.
2. In Custom configurations, click Custom events and choose a data stream.
3. In the Custom events table, click an event to modify, or click Create to create a new event.
4. Modify or add conditions or parameters.
5. Click Save.

Associate monetary values with key events

To measure the revenue associated with an event, add the value and currency parameters to the event. The parameters are already recommended for ecommerce events, but you can add the two parameters to any event. Learn more about the event parameters

The value parameter must be a number (e.g., 50) and must be accompanied by a currency parameter. The currency parameter must have a value in the ISO 4217 format (e.g., USD for the US dollar). If the parameter is missing or invalid, the event is recorded with the correct count, but it won't be sent to Google Ads.

The following example describes how to associate a monetary value with a key event:

1. In Admin, under Data display, click Events.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector. You must be a Viewer or above  at the property level to associate monetary values with key events.
2. In the Key events tab, click to the far right of a row.
3. Click Set default key event value, and enter the value you want to add.
4. Click Save.

The Event count by Event name card in the Realtime report shows you the parameters associated with each event collected by Google Analytics in the last 30 minutes. You can use the Event parameter key column to see all the event parameters associated with an event and make sure the two parameters have been added correctly.

Create Google Ads conversions

If you want to use your key events for bidding, you can create Google Ads conversions based on your Google Analytics key events through the Google Ads and Google Analytics interface. You can manage most of the conversion settings through Google Ads and Google Analytics, which helps maintain consistency and reduces the risk of data discrepancies.

Events can also be used when creating conversions through the Google Analytics interface. Selected events will be marked as key events in Google Analytics. Learn more about creating Google Ads conversions based on Google Analytics key events.

You can evaluate the performance of your Google Ads conversions in either Google Ads or in the "Advertising" section of Google Analytics. Google Ads conversions don’t appear in standard Google Analytics reports.