Google Analytics 4 (GA4) replaced Universal Analytics, and it works quite differently under the hood — which is why many business owners find their old reports don't translate directly.
Where Universal Analytics was built around sessions and pageviews, GA4 is built around events. Every interaction, from a pageview to a form submission, is treated as an event, which makes it more flexible but also less intuitive at first glance.
For most businesses, the reports that matter most are Acquisition (where visitors come from), Engagement (what they do once they arrive) and Conversions (whether they complete the actions that matter, like a form submission or purchase).
Setting GA4 up correctly — with the right conversion events defined — makes the difference between a dashboard full of numbers and a tool that actually informs decisions.