Understanding the differences in data processing for the various reporting features can be helpful in understanding which metrics are available where and why they may differ.
For example, since “visits” as a metric in Adobe Analytics is defined at data processing time, and “sessions” as a metric in CJA is calculated at report time, the two metrics may differ based on the rules used for session definition inside the CJA data view.
Also, neither visits nor sessions as a metric is available in datasets created by the Analytics Source Connector and therefore would require you to define the session in your query logic in order to do comparisons.
The table below defines terminology for the different types of processing logic that are applied to Adobe Analytics and CJA:
Term | Definition | Notes |
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Processing-time logic | Logic that is performed when data is being processed, before being stored for reporting and analytics purposes. | This logic is ‘baked into’ historical data and generally cannot easily be changed. |
Report-time logic | Logic that is performed at the time a report is run. | This logic can be applied to future and historical data at report runtime in a non-destructive manner. |
Hit-level logic | Logic applied at a row-by-row level. | Examples: Processing rules, VISTA, certain marketing channel rules. |
Visit-level logic | Logic applied at the visit level. | Examples: Visit and session definition. |
Visitor-level logic | Logic applied at the visitor level. | Example: Cross-device/cross-channel visitor stitching. |
Segment (filter) logic | Evaluation of hit/visit/visitor (event/session/person) segment (filter) rules. | Example: People who bought red shoes. |
Calculated metrics | Evaluation of customer-created custom metrics which can be based on complex formulas including segments and filters. | Example: # of people who bought red shoes. |
Attribution logic | Logic to calculate attribution. | Example: eVar persistence. |
Over time, Adobe Analytics and now Customer Journey Analytics have improved their flexibility by allowing visit and visitor-level data logic to be performed at report runtime.
The data processing steps which are performed for Adobe Analytics and CJA and the timing of those steps varies from Analytics feature to Analytics feature. The table below provides a summary of the types of data processing for each Analytics feature, and when the data processing is applied.
Analytics feature | Applied at processing time | Applied at report time | Not available | Notes |
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Core AA reporting (not including Attribution IQ or virtual report suites with report-time processing) |
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Core AA Data Warehouse |
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Core AA Data Feeds |
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Core AA Livestream |
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Core AA Attribution IQ |
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Core AA virtual report suites with report time processing (VRS RTP) |
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Analytics Source Connector-based dataset in AEP data lake |
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Customer Journey Analytics reporting |
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