Free-form exploration is similar to custom reports in Looker Studio, but operates within GA4 data in real time. This is a method of checking the results on the canvas by adding segments, dimensions, and metrics to the variable panel and placing them in the row, column, and value slots of the tab settings.
In particular, the pivot function allows cross-analysis of two dimensions in rows and columns at the same time. For example, you can cross device categories (rows) and channels (columns) to compare the number of conversions for each channel and device at once.
When analyzing hospital clients in weballin, if you place 'Page Path + Event Name' in a row and set 'Number of Key Events' as the value, you can see at a glance which pages are associated with the most reservation events. This serves a role similar to custom reports in Universal Analytics.
Key takeaways
- It supports seven visualization types, including table, donut, line, scatter plot, bar, heat map, and geographic map.
- Up to 5 dimensions can be placed in rows and columns, and up to 10 metrics can be placed in values.
- The pivot function cross-analyzes the two dimensions to obtain insights in the form of a matrix.
- By applying segments, you can filter and analyze only the metrics of a specific set of users.
- GA4 screen location: Explore > Select '+ New' or 'Free form' template.