Why You Should Use GA4 Instead of Relying on Blogger’s Built-In Stats
Many people start a Blogger site as a simple journal, where traffic numbers don’t really matter.
But if your goal is Google AdSense monetization, your priorities change completely. You need real visitors, real engagement, and real data to understand how people discover your content.
And that is exactly where GA4 becomes essential—because Blogger’s built-in statistics are not reliable for anyone who wants to grow their site seriously.
1. If Your Blog Is Just a Diary, Stats Don’t Matter
If the purpose of your blog is simply to write freely—even if no one reads it—then Blogger’s default features are more than enough.
However, when your objective becomes earning with AdSense, everything changes:
- you need more exposure
- you need higher-quality content
- you need to understand your audience
- you need to know which posts attract traffic
- and you need to track real user behavior, not inflated numbers
AdSense is not easy to qualify for.
Only well-structured, consistently indexed, user-focused content has a chance.
2. Exposure Comes First: Search Console + Indexing
Before worrying about analytics, your content must actually appear in search results.
Your workflow becomes:
- Publish
- Get indexed in Search Console
- Measure user behavior with GA4
- Improve your content based on real data
This is where the phrase
“Data-driven blogging begins with GA4”
truly applies.
3. “But Blogger Already Has Built-In Stats… Isn’t That Enough?”
Unfortunately, no.
Blogger’s internal stats panel shows numbers, but they are not accurate and often misleading.
Here’s why:
✔ Blogger counts every visit from your own browser unless you manually disable it
And even if you disable it:
- restarting your PC
- clearing cookies
- switching browsers
…will reset that setting, and your own visits begin counting again.
✔ Blogger stats are inflated compared to GA4
In my case, Blogger showed 476 page views in the last 7 days.
But GA4 showed only 6 actual active users—and two of those were me (Korea).
So the real external visitors were only 4 users.
This kind of difference is huge and illustrates exactly why Blogger stats cannot be trusted for AdSense or SEO decisions.
✔ Blogger measures “views,” GA4 measures “engaged sessions”
Blogger counts raw hits.
GA4 counts real users who actually interact with your site.
That is why GA4 always looks “stingy”—but the data is far more meaningful.
✔ GA4 filters internal traffic if you enable IP blocking
If you activate internal IP filtering, your own visits disappear completely.
For new bloggers, this often results in:
“Why is GA4 showing zero users?!”
Because GA4 is accurate, not inflated.
4. A Direct Comparison: Blogger Stats vs GA4 (Same 7-Day Period)
Blogger Stats
- Page views: 476
- Referrers include bots, accidental hits, self-visits
- Browser and OS data looks diverse, but not fully reliable
GA4
- Active users: 6
- Real external users after excluding myself: 4
- Engagement time: accurate
- Locations: accurate
- Source channels: Direct, Organic Social, Unassigned
- Reports are consistent and actionable
This proves how dramatically different the two systems are.
5. GA4 Isn’t Always Comfortable… but It’s Essential
To be honest, GA4 can feel complicated at first:
- new interface
- new metrics
- strict tracking rules
- fewer visible numbers
- no inflated traffic to boost your ego
But if your goal is real AdSense income, then GA4 is the only analytics tool that matters.
It shows:
- how users find your blog
- which posts attract real visitors
- which countries your readers are from
- what channels (Direct, Search, Social) bring traffic
- how long users actually stay
- what content needs improvement
Blogger cannot give you any of this.
6. Final Thoughts: Install GA4 Sooner, Not Later
Even if GA4 feels uncomfortable or overly strict, it is the only reliable foundation for:
- SEO improvement
- AdSense optimization
- audience understanding
- long-term traffic growth
Once you start seeing real data—not inflated Blogger numbers—you become a true data-driven blogger.
