Understanding Bounce Rate: Orbee vs. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Learn how Orbee and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) calculate bounce rates and why engagement time thresholds create differences in reported data.
When analyzing website traffic, you may notice slight differences between the bounce rate reported by Orbee and the bounce rate shown in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Both platforms have moved away from the legacy definition of a bounce (which strictly looked at single-page visits) and now focus on actual user engagement.
However, because the two platforms use different default time thresholds to define an "engaged" user, their calculated bounce rates will vary. Here is exactly how each platform isolates and calculates bounce rate.
How Orbee Calculates Bounce Rate
By default, Orbee looks at three criteria to determine a "Bounce." In Orbee's system, a visit is considered a bounce only if it meets all of the following conditions:
- Pageviews: It is a single-page visit.
- Time Spent: The user spends 20 seconds or less on the site.
- Conversions: The user completes no conversion events.
If a shopper lands on a single Vehicle Detail Page (VDP), spends 30 seconds reading the vehicle specs, and leaves without viewing another page, Orbee does not count this as a bounce because they demonstrated engagement via time spent on site.
How Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Calculates Bounce Rate
GA4 calculates bounce rate as the exact inverse of their "Engagement Rate" metric. According to Google's documentation, a session in GA4 is marked as a bounce only if it meets all of the following conditions:
- Pageviews: The session has fewer than 2 pageviews.
- Time Spent: The session lasts under 10 seconds.
- Conversions: The session triggers zero key events (conversions).
The Core Difference: Time Thresholds
Both Orbee and GA4 share the same modern philosophy: single-page visits should not automatically be penalized as bounces if the user is actively reading or converting.
The primary difference between the two platforms comes down to the default time threshold used to measure engagement:
- GA4 considers a user "engaged" after just 10 seconds.
- Orbee uses a stricter threshold, requiring a user to be on-site for more than 20 seconds to be considered engaged.
What this means for dealers: Because Orbee requires a shopper to stay on the site twice as long as GA4 to be considered "engaged," Orbee's reported bounce rate may appear slightly higher than GA4's. Orbee utilizes this 20-second threshold to ensure that the engagement metrics reported reflect high-intent automotive shoppers.