How Often Does Google Analytics Update? (Answered)

This guide answers the question, “how often does Google Analytics update?”

Below, you’ll find out the average processing time for each Google Analytics delay according to the property type (Google Analytics 4 or Analytics 360) and the number of sessions the website or app gets per day and month.

You’ll also learn about realtime tracking and non-standard data processing features of the Google Analytics platform that can affect the frequency of your digital marketing reports and API queries.

How Often Does Google Analytics Update?

Google Analytics takes 24-48 hours to update most reports and API queries for Standard accounts that send less than 200,000 sessions per day. Google Analytics 360 accounts have a processing latency of 4 to 24 hours for properties that send less than 2 billion hits per month.

Google Analytics Data Delay

Google Analytics delivers different intervals of data delay that impact how often a property is updated for reports and API queries. The table below shows how data freshness compares for Google Analytics 4 Standard (GA4) and Analytics 360 accounts.

Note: Enhanced data freshness for Google Analytics 360 accounts works on a best-effort basis. If the freshest analytics data is not available for the property, then Google Analytics returns the next most-recent data update. As you can see in the table above, both Standard and 360 accounts can receive intraday updates for most reports and API queries if the number of user sessions doesn’t go over a specific traffic limit.

Features With Non-Standard Data Processing

The following Google Analytics 4 (GA4) features are considered non-standard and are not covered by the Analytics 360 data processing service level agreement:

Google Analytics Realtime Tracking

Realtime tracking in Google Analytics allows you to monitor activity as it happens on your website property or app. The reports are updated continuously and each hit is reported within seconds, or up to one minute, after it occurs.

As mentioned in this other guide on how long does it take Google Analytics to show data, there are six reports available in the Google Analytics realtime tracking dashboard:

• Overview
• Locations
• Traffic Sources
• Content (or Screens, for Mobile App properties)
• Events
• Conversions

Reports display the following update information:

• Number of active users.
• Number of hits during each of the most recent 30 minutes.
• Number of hits during each of the most recent 60 seconds.

More Resources On Google Analytics

Now that you know about the frequency Google Analytics takes to update, you may be interested in learning more about the Analytics platform. The following resources can help you understand how it works, the pricing levels, and using Google Analytics for search engine optimization (SEO).

Google Analytics Update & Data Delay Summary

I hope you enjoyed this guide on how often does Google Analytics update.

As you discovered, Google Analytics takes 24-48 hours to update most reports and API queries for Standard accounts that send less than 200,000 sessions per day. And the frequency of Google Analytics 360 account updates has a processing latency of 4 to 24 hours for properties that send less than 2 billion hits per month. Some data and reports are accessible in realtime and intraday intervals for updates can occur for websites and apps that don’t exceed certain traffic limits.

Stephen Hockman is an entrepreneur and founder of SEO Chatter. He specializes in search engine optimization and digital marketing and has been fascinated with SEO since 2005. Stephen’s goal is to share the best tips and news about search engine marketing so you can get more traffic for your website.