Yes, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) does offer real-time analytics, providing data on user activity as it happens on your website or app. This functionality relies on GA4’s data streaming collection, which processes events individually rather than aggregating them in 30-minute blocks like Universal Analytics did.
As of December 2025, the Realtime report in GA4 displays metrics like active users, events occurring, conversions, and user demographics – all updating within seconds. Data is processed through Google’s global data centres, including those located in Sydney and Melbourne, ensuring relatively low latency for Australian users. GA4’s real-time reporting now includes more granular event-level data, allowing marketers to observe specific user interactions. The system currently supports up to 500,000 real-time events per property, a limit sufficient for the vast majority of Australian SMEs. In 2026, Google has announced enhancements to the Realtime report to include more predictive insights based on current user behaviour. Data privacy remains compliant with Australian regulations, including the Privacy Act 1988, with data anonymisation and user consent management features available within GA4.
GA4’s real-time analytics functions by continuously collecting and processing individual user events, presenting this information in a near-instantaneous dashboard.
