New Google Analytics Feature Detects Subtle Data Trend Changes via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has announced a new trend change detection feature in Google Analytics.

This new capability will allow you to more easily identify subtle but meaningful shifts in data trends over time.

We’ve just introduced trend change detection, a new type of insight that surfaces subtle but long-lasting and important changes in your data. It works like anomaly detection since they both detect a change in data. The main difference is that anomaly detection highlights sudden… pic.twitter.com/RYqzikf8r1

— Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) February 13, 2024

What Is Trend Change Detection?

Trend change detection is designed to detect gradual, long-term changes in metrics rather than sudden spikes or dips.

While Google Analytics already has anomaly detection to highlight abnormal spikes or drops, this new feature focuses on more subtle changes in data trends spanning weeks or months.

How It Works

When Google Analytics detects a change in the direction of time-series data for a metric, it overlaps a marker in charts and graphs on the date the change occurred.

You can hover over the marker to see details about the change, including the previous and current rates of change and the exact date the trend shifted.

Screenshot from: support.google.com, February 2024.

Clicking “Investigate Report” will open a more detailed view to analyze the data further. You can adjust the date range, compare other dimensions, and add breakdowns to better understand what is driving the trend change.

Why Trend Change Detection Matters

Unexpected downward trends require investigation to determine the cause. For example, a website code update could inadvertently break a registration button, leading to stalled user growth.

Without trend change detection, it could take weeks or months to notice the gradual decline in new registrations.

Google Analytics uses a signal segmentation algorithm to detect trend changes in time series data. For daily data, it examines approximately 90 days of history. For weekly data, the algorithm looks at around 32 weeks to identify potential trend changes.

Where You’ll See Trend Change Detection

Trend changes will be displayed in the following places in the Google Analytics interface:

Types of Trend Changes Detected

The new detection capability is designed to surface the following types of trend changes:

Tips For Using Trend Change Detection

Leveraging Google’s new granular trend tracking provides an edge in diagnosing opportunities and threats in organic data patterns.

Monitoring organic traffic metrics week-over-week and month-over-month allows you to detect unexpected downward trends that could indicate issues like:

Early detection of these trend changes allows you to investigate and address the root causes quickly.

Featured Image: Vladimka production/Shutterstock