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Use the ‘event_timestamp’ for the ‘first_visit’ event instead of ‘user_first_touch_timestamp’ wherever possible.

Both the ‘event_timestamp’ for the ‘first_visit’ event and ‘user_first_touch_timestamp’ represent the same exact moment of the first recorded interaction of the user with your website.

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You can verify the relationship between ‘event_timestamp’ for the ‘first_visit’ event and ‘user_first_touch_timestamp’ by using the following SQL:

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-- Verify relationship between event_timestamp for the first_visit event and user_first_touch_timestamp.

 

SELECT

  user_pseudo_id,

  event_timestamp,

  user_first_touch_timestamp,

  event_timestamp = user_first_touch_timestamp AS is_equal

FROM

  `dbrt-ga4.analytics_207472454.events_*`

WHERE

  event_name = 'first_visit'

  AND _TABLE_SUFFIX BETWEEN '20241001' AND '20241031'

LIMIT 1000;

The ‘user_first_touch_timestamp’ field is relatively new and may not work on old datasets. If the field was not recorded at the time of data collection, it may be null or absent.

‘event_timestamp’ is universally reliable across all datasets regardless of the date range, as it is tied directly to every event recorded in GA4.

Every event, regardless of type or date range, will always have a valid ‘event_timestamp’.

‘event_timestamp’ is versatile and can be used for both event-level and user-level aggregation.

For user-level analyses, you can derive insights by grouping or aggregating events by ‘user_pseudo_id’ and using the earliest ‘event_timestamp’ as the user’s “first touch.”

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