Calculated and Advanced calculated metrics

Last update: 2025-01-31
  • Created for:
  • User
    Admin

Calculated and advanced calculated metrics are custom metrics that you can create from existing metrics.

Our Calculated Metrics tools offer a highly flexible way of building, managing and curating metrics. They allow you as marketers, product managers and analysts to ask questions of the data without having to change your Analytics implementation. The custom metrics available in each Analytics package are:

Here is a comparison of calculated metrics and advanced calculated metrics capabilities:

Builder Options Calculated metrics Advanced calculated metrics
Format types (decimal, time, percent, currency) Yes Yes
Attribution changes (default, linear, participation, etc.) Yes Yes
Metric types (standard, total) Yes Yes
Basic operators (add, subtract, multiply, divide) Yes Yes
Apply segments No Yes
Basic functions (count, abs value, mean, etc) No Yes
Advanced functions (regression, if/then, t-score, etc) No Yes

Capabilities

You can

  • Create metrics across Analysis Workspace, Report Builder, Anomaly Detection, and Contribution Analysis.
  • Create segmented metrics that are derived at report run time, without having to change the implementation. These can be viewed historically because they are based on segments.

See VideoCheckedOut Calculated metrics for a demo video.

  • Share metrics across report suites. This means that all newly created metrics apply to all reports suites in the same login company.

  • (Advanced calculated metrics only) Segment on metrics. For example, you can create a metric for “New visitors”, with a count of people for whom this is the first session.

  • (Advanced calculated metrics only) Incorporate statistical functions to help you better describe your data. For example, you can count the number of items in a report or add in the number of standard deviations for each item.

Limitations

Some Analytics features let you use events but not calculated metrics:

  • Fallout in Analysis Workspace
  • Cohort Analysis in Analysis Workspace
  • Data Warehouse
  • Segments
  • Analytics for Target

Tools

Here is a short overview of the Calculated metrics tools:

Tool Capabilities
Calculated Metric Builder
  • Create calculated and advanced calculated metrics using advanced allocation models.
  • Add segments inline to metric formulas
  • Compare segments in the same report. For example, compare local visitors vs. international visitors.
  • Use statistical functions
  • Provide detailed metric descriptions (show what it does, where to use it, where NOT to use it)
  • Copy definitions into new metrics
  • Provide an inline metric preview
  • Set metric polarity, which indicates whether it’s good or bad if a given custom event (metric) goes up
  • Tag metrics
Calculated Metric Manager
  • Share metrics with others</li
  • Approve and curate metrics
  • Organize (tag) your metrics so people can find them
  • Delete metrics
  • Rename metrics
Metric Selector rail Lets you search for and add/apply metrics to the report. You can also change the sort order (options are: alphabetical, recommended, frequently used, recently used.) In addition, you can filter on Report Suites to show only metrics created in a specific report suite. To access this Metric Selector, click the Metrics icon to the left of a report.
API for Calculated Metrics Part of the Adobe Analytics 2.0 API set.

On this page