JOIN Stories KPIs vs Google Analytics
This document clarifies the methodological differences between native JOIN Stories KPIs and those from Google Analytics (GA4). Both tools measure complementary but distinct realities, a direct comparison of numbers without context can be misleading.
KPI | JOIN Stories | Google Analytics |
1. Story view | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Calculation formula | Total number of story views. A view is counted as soon as the story is opened. | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. |
2. Engagement Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Calculation formula | Number of story views with a CTA click / Total story views containing a CTA | Engaged sessions / Total sessions |
Scope | Stories without a CTA display N/A (nothing to measure). The global average excludes stories without a CTA. | Based on navigation behavior: duration > 10s, 1 key event, or > 1 page loaded. |
Page relevance | Highly relevant on home, landing, and category pages. Less relevant on product pages (the user is already in the right place). | Identical measurement regardless of the page. |
💡 Note: The JOIN engagement rate measures a direct action on the content (CTA click). It is not comparable to the GA engagement rate, which reflects overall navigation activity. |
3. Completion Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Weighted average of the maximum percentage of the story viewed (max duration reached / total story duration) | Non-native metric in GA — requires a custom event. |
Concrete example | 66 seconds watched out of a 100-second video = 66% completion rate. |
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💡 Note: The JOIN completion rate is a native and automatic metric. In GA, it requires manual tracking — the values are not comparable without identical implementation. |
4. Session Duration | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | JOIN compares the average duration of engaged sessions that viewed at least one story VS the average duration of engaged sessions where the widget was loaded but the story was not opened. | Duration calculated on engaged sessions: > 10s, 1 key event, or > 1 page loaded for all site users. |
💡 Note: GA reports a single average duration, without any distinction related to interaction with a third-party widget. |
5. Bounce Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Calculated on engaged sessions only with at least one widget loaded. JOIN definition: sessions with a single page view among engaged sessions with at least one widget loaded | All non-engaged sessions (< 10s, 0 key events, 1 page). |
Key mechanism | Clicking on a story immediately qualifies the session as engaged, it is therefore removed from the classic GA bounce rate. | A bouncing session = non-engaged session. Any interaction (including a story) removes the session from the bounce calculation. |
💡 Note: The two calculations are NOT comparable. JOIN uses a definition aligned with the old GA logic (engaged sessions) to enable a consistent reading of the stories' impact. |
6. Conversion rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Calculated on engaged sessions only, with at least one widget loaded. JOIN definition: Number of engaged sessions that viewed a story and made at least one purchase / Total engaged sessions with a widget loaded | Number of sessions with a transaction event / total number of sessions. Can be limited to engaged sessions depending on your implementation. Calculated via the GA4 e-commerce module |
Key mechanism | JOIN attributes the conversion to the engaged session where the story was opened. A story opening = qualified session = included in the calculation. | GA measures the conversion rate across all sessions, regardless of interaction with the JOIN widget. |
Measured result | Users who opened a story have a higher conversion rate than those who did not interact with the widget. | — |
7. Widget loaded | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Number of times the JOIN widget was loaded on a page. There is one load per widget (not per number of stories in the widget). This event is normally not subject to user consent. | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. Requires a custom event to track widget loading. |
Key mechanism | The widget is considered loaded as soon as it appears in the page DOM. JOIN detects this event automatically. | GA does not natively measure third-party widget impressions. No directly comparable metric. |
8. Page view | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | N/A — No equivalent native metric in JOIN. | Each page_view event triggered, across all sessions (engaged or not). This event is subject to user consent. |
9. Click Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Number of times the widget was clicked divided by the number of widget loads | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. |
Key takeaways
JOIN Stories measures the direct impact of stories on the behavior of engaged users.
Google Analytics measures the overall navigation behavior on the site.
JOIN metrics are built on engaged sessions (GA4 definition), exposed to JOIN widgets, which provides a solid baseline but requires an adapted reading of the figures.
Value differences between JOIN and GA are normal and expected: they reflect different measurement scopes, not inconsistencies.
It is possible to link our events to those of Google Analytics. This allows for customization of calculation methods based on Google Analytics data.