Case Study: NPR One increases user engagement and gains actionable listener insights with Firebase

NPR gains valuable insights into user behavior with Google Analytics for Firebase

NPR built the NPR One app to attract new listeners and needed deeper insight into how people actually use it—whether they listen on headphones, speakerphone, or Bluetooth, which stories they choose from those devices, and how features and pathways affect overall engagement and retention. To answer those questions they had to combine front-end event data with server-side listening records to map the full user journey and prioritize product improvements.

NPR implemented Google Analytics for Firebase because it integrates with Firebase, supports unlimited events, and exports to BigQuery, where they created universal user IDs to join analytics and backend data. They also used Firebase Remote Config for A/B testing and connected quickly to Google AdWords for Universal App Campaigns. As a result NPR gained a clearer view of listening context (most listen on speakerphone), improved content matching to boost engagement, sped up campaign launches, and reduced developer overhead with a single integration.

NPR One

Tejas Mistry

Product Manager