Adjusted Bounce Rate in Google Analytics 4 (and the Old Universal Analytics Code)

Adjusted bounce rate counts a visitor as “engaged” if they stay on a page for a set time, even if they leave without clicking anything else. It’s a far better measure than plain bounce rate for blogs and single-page sites, where people read an article and then leave happily. We tracked adjusted bounce rate in Universal Google Analytics for years with a small code tweak. Universal Analytics has now shut down, but Google Analytics 4 builds the same idea in. Here’s how adjusted bounce rate works in GA4, how to set it, and the old Universal Analytics code for reference.

Quick answer: Universal Analytics stopped processing data in July 2023, so its adjusted bounce rate code no longer works. In Google Analytics 4, bounce rate is the share of sessions that were not engaged, and a session counts as engaged after 10 seconds by default. To change that, go to Admin > Data streams > your web stream > Configure tag settings > Show more > Adjust session timeout and set Adjust timer for engaged sessions (up to 60 seconds).

What is adjusted bounce rate?

A normal bounce is a visit where someone views one page and leaves. On a blog, that can include a reader who spent five minutes reading your whole article, found the answer, and left satisfied. Plain bounce rate treats them the same as someone who left after two seconds.

Adjusted bounce rate fixes this by counting a visit as a non-bounce once the visitor has stayed a minimum time, such as 15 or 30 seconds. Google first suggested this approach (external site) in 2012, and we added it to QuickOnlineTips straight away.

What adjusted bounce rate showed us

Within days of adding the code in 2012, our bounce rate fell from nearly 80% to around 14%, and average visit duration rose from about 50 seconds to 1 minute 10 seconds. The plain figure said 80% of visitors left after one page; the adjusted figure showed only 14% left within 15 seconds. Those are the visitors who probably didn’t find what they wanted, which is a far more useful number to act on. (Visit duration rises because the timed event gives Analytics a second hit to measure time against; without it, one-page visits count as zero seconds.)

Adjusted bounce rate in Google Analytics 4

GA4 replaced bounce rate as a headline metric with engagement rate, and redefined bounce rate as its opposite: bounce rate = 100% − engagement rate. A session is engaged if it:

• lasts longer than 10 seconds (or the time you set), or
• has two or more page or screen views, or
• includes a key event (conversion).

So GA4 already reports an adjusted bounce rate, no extra code needed. See Google’s explanation of engagement rate and bounce rate (external site).

How to change the engaged session timer in GA4

Ten seconds is short for long articles. To raise it:

1. In GA4, click Admin (the gear icon).
2. Under Data collection and modification, open Data streams and choose your website stream.
3. Click Configure tag settings, then Show more.
4. Open Adjust session timeout.
5. Set Adjust timer for engaged sessions to between 10 and 60 seconds, for example 30 seconds, and save.

The change applies to new data only. Your earlier reports keep the old definition.

Where to see bounce rate in GA4

Bounce rate isn’t shown in standard reports by default. Open a report such as Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens, click the pencil icon to Customize report, add Bounce rate and Engagement rate as metrics, and save. You can also add them in an Explorations report.

The old Universal Analytics code (for reference)

When we upgraded to Universal Analytics in 2014, the original adjusted bounce rate code stopped working, so we used this tweak. Our adjusted bounce rate looked like this after adding it:

The original 2012 version for the classic ga.js code added one line after _trackPageview: setTimeout("_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', '15_seconds', 'read'])",15000);. The Universal Analytics tracking code looked like this, with the extra line added before the closing script tag:

ga('create', 'UA-123456-1', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
setTimeout(function () {
  ga('send', 'event', 'adjusted bounce rate', 'page visit 15 seconds or more');
}, 15000);

After 15 seconds, it sent an event, so the visit no longer counted as a bounce. Changing 15000 to a higher number tracked longer visits. Don’t add this today: analytics.js and UA properties no longer collect data. Use GA4’s engaged-session timer instead.

Does bounce rate affect SEO?

Google has said it doesn’t use Google Analytics data such as bounce rate for rankings. But engagement still matters: pages that answer the question well keep readers longer and earn more links and return visits. Use adjusted bounce rate and engagement rate to find pages that disappoint readers, then improve them.

Frequently asked questions

Is Universal Analytics still working?

No. Standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing data on 1 July 2023, and Analytics 360 properties in 2024. Use Google Analytics 4.

What is a good bounce rate in GA4?

It depends on the site. For blogs, a GA4 bounce rate of 30–60% is common. Compare pages on your own site rather than chasing a single number.

Why does adjusted bounce rate also increase time on site?

Analytics measures time between hits. A one-page visit with no other hit counts as zero seconds; the timed event adds a second hit, so those visits get a real duration. GA4 measures engagement time directly, so it doesn’t have this problem.

What’s the difference between bounce rate and exit rate?

Bounce rate is about sessions that weren’t engaged. Exit rate shows how often a page was the last one viewed in a session, whether or not the visitor engaged.