Goblins of GA4: Data Lag

Despite solid realtime reporting, it can take up to 24 (and maybe even 48) hours for data to fully populate the reports throughout GA4.

A line graph showing relatively consistent data before dropping to 0 at the end. — Yes, I know this goes through today, but I'm adding it for effect.

I haven’t found a reliable way around this (other than paying for 360), so this is just a PSA. Processing time is inconsistent too, especially when Google services are unstable (like they are now).

This table is from Google's official data freshness documentation:

Interval	Typical processing time	Properties	Data limits per property	Query coverage
Realtime	Less than 1 minute	360, Standard	None	Limited to a few dimensions and metrics
360 intraday	About 1 hour	360	Premium Normal and Premium Large as defined here	All reports and API queries, except these
Standard intraday	4-8 hours	Standard	Standard Normal	All reports and API queries, except these
Daily	12 hours	360, Standard	Standard, Premium Normal	All reports and API queries
Daily	18 hours	360, Standard	Premium Large	All reports and API queries
Daily	24+ hours	360, Standard	Premium XLarge	All reports and API queries

Be wary of yesterday’s numbers in your reporting. If something seems off, you’ll need to wait a day or exclude the prior day and do trend analysis to see if anything jumps out.

For immediate peace of mind, use realtime reporting or Tag Assistant to do a quick check, making sure things look to be firing as they should.