This document contains frequently asked questions that arise when using the Google Analytics data source. You can quickly navigate to a particular FAQ by using the table of contents below.
What is the difference between the Google Analytics and Google Analytics 4 / GA4 connectors?
When will Google Analytics Universal Analytics property support go away?
What do I need to connect to the Google Analytics data source?
What permissions do I need in order to connect to Google Analytics?
How does Google Analytics sample demographic data?
Why does my gender and age data appear different from the Google Analytics interface?
How come my Google Analytics report doesn't match TapClicks?
How do I access my Google Analytics UTM Codes?
How do I know what dimensions and metrics can be used together from Google Analytics?
How can I see exactly what data is returned through the Google Analytics API?
I need to connect to something more granular than "View" in Google Analytics, can I do that?
How can I report on Segment Data from Google Analytics?
What if I need data from Google Analytics that TapClicks doesn’t quite support?
What fields are available for this data source?
What data can I assign to my Tap Client from this data source?
What is the difference between the Google Analytics and Google Analytics 4 / GA4 connectors?
Google Analytics 4 / GA4 is the next-generation measurement solution that is replacing the legacy Google Analytics Universal Analytics (UA) properties used to measure website traffic. UA properties will stop processing data on July 1, 2023, and Google Analytics users are encouraged to prepare to leverage Google Analytics 4 properties.
To check to see if your properties are Universal Analytics or a Google Analytics 4 / GA4 entity, look at the property ID. If it has a “UA-” prefix, you have a Universal Analytics property and should consider migration. If the property ID is numbers only, then you are using a GA4 property. For more information, check out this article from Google.
When will Google Analytics Universal Analytics property support go away?
Google will stop processing new events to Google Analytics UA properties on July 1, 2023. Google Analytics only intends to make that data available to export through the end of 2023. After 2023, it’s unlikely that you will be able to access Google Analytics UA data in the Google interface.
What impact will migrating from Google Analytics Universal Analytics properties to Google Analytics 4 / GA4 properties have on my TapClicks dashboards?
There will be an impact to your reports. The first step you can take is to connect to Google Analytics 4 / GA4 in your dashboard so that data can start flowing in and you can start to think about how to work with this new data.
For a complete review of what actions you should take and what options you have when it comes to reporting, please review this article.
Why can’t I see my Google Analytics 4 / GA4 properties in the Google Analytics data source in TapClicks?
This is because Google Analytics 4 / GA4 properties can be found under the Google Analytics 4 data source in TapClicks. Go to your Manage Data Sources page and search for Google Analytics 4. Connect to that tile and you will be able to see your GA4 properties. For more information about Google Analytics 4 / GA4, check out the following resources:
- Google Analytics 4 / GA4 Dimensions and Metrics
- How to connect to Google Analytics 4 / GA4
- Frequently Asked Questions for Google Analytics 4 / GA4
What do I need to connect to the Google Analytics data source?
You will need a username and password with access to a Google Analytics Universal Analytics property to connect to this data source.
What permissions do I need in order to connect to Google Analytics?
You will need to have at least the "Read & Analyze" level.
Why do my metric totals on the Google Analytics Demographic Data View look different than what I see on the Main Level Data View?
This is because Google Analytics Age and Gender columns are not always defined and returned through the API. The API only ever returns data where these fields are known. It does not support an undefined type value. For this reason, the values on this level may be a bit lower when the Age and/or Gender are unknown.
How does Google Analytics sample demographic data?
Google has the right to withhold certain data sets from the response if the result for a specific demographic combination is smaller than the Google Data Threshold. So, while requesting data from Google Analytics, Google can withhold some data and send the rest. As a result, any API user cannot infer the performance of specific demographics or interest groups.
Why do my gender and age data appear different from the Google Analytics interface?
Google uses something called a data threshold to make sure that the information returned to an API user doesn’t allow someone to personally identify a single user or specific groups of users. This means that if an API user like TapClicks asks for data in a range, there needs to be a minimum threshold of data in the response for the API to return the data. If the threshold isn’t met, then the API response is empty.
When TapClicks pulls data from the Google Analytics API, a date is always applied to that data set so that each day has a specific set of KPIs associated with it. This is required for how TapClicks stores data and it gives you flexibility in the date range selector on your dashboards. Because the data is broken down by date, there are far fewer sessions in each resulting row, and the Google data threshold can be hit more readily.
For those rows where the threshold (i.e., the minimal value) isn’t met, those rows are excluded from the API response. Because of this, the numeric values in the TapClicks Google Analytics data source that pertain to age and gender may appear somewhat lower than other data views.
Let’s look at an example:
- You might see that a specific page from Google Analytics has 40 page views for the Age Group 65+ for the entire month of June.
- When TapClicks requests June data from Google Analytics, there is an additional granularity applied to get data by day.
- The Google API response might show that the specific page has 12 page views for Age Group 65+ on June 1 and 17 page views on June 2 and no additional daily rows for the Age Group 65+. This means that for the other days in June, there are not enough page views to meet the Google Data Threshold and Google excludes those rows from the response.
- Therefore, TapClicks will show 29 page views for 65+ Age Group for the month of June (12 page views on June 1, 17 page views on June 2) rather than a value of 40 page views for 65+ Age Group.
Note that this is a Google-defined threshold and there is no possibility for TapClicks to apply a different threshold. However, if you want increased flexibility with how data is presented on your reports, perhaps without this date requirement on API calls, try out our On Demand Widgets.
How come my Google Analytics report doesn't match TapClicks?
For information about why data between TapClicks and Google Analytics may not match, check out this article.
How do I access my Google Analytics UTM Codes?
Your UTM codes are contained as a part of additional data views in the Google Analytics feed. Take a look here or your Data Profile to see what metrics are available within your dashboard. If you do not see what you are looking for, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com to learn more.
|
UTM CODE |
TapAnalytics Label |
|
utm_source |
Source |
|
utm_medium |
Medium |
|
utm_campaign |
Analytics Campaign Name |
|
utm_term |
Keyword |
|
utm_content |
Content |
How do I know what dimensions and metrics can be used together from Google Analytics?
Here is a web page that lists out all the dimensions and metrics that are possible to get from the Google Analytics API: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/reporting/core/dimsmets. We suggest that when working on this page, you toggle to show API names to make it easier to find what you want.
When trying to determine if you can combine metrics, navigate to that page and select all your dimensions first. Then go through and select your metrics. By doing this, you will see fields become grayed which means they cannot be combined with the fields you have already selected.
|
NOTE: Not all combinations will work. And even combinations that appear to work here may not work in the Request Composer, but this is a great starting point for technical feasibility. |
Example: In the image below, you can see that if you want to report on Goal Completion Location, you cannot also have traffic source data.
How can I see exactly what data is returned through the Google Analytics API?
1] Go to this URL: https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/request-composer/.
2] Log in with your Google account that is connected to Google Analytics.
3] Click the Metric Expression tab.
4] Select the Account, Property and View from the dropdown menu. This will populate the later fields.
5] Select your date range.
6] Type in the metric expressions (these are metrics).
| NOTE: You will need the API naming conventions. For example “ga:users” and not “Users”. You can get these from the Dimensions and Metrics Explorer. |
7] Type in all the dimensions for the data view you are comparing to. You are presented with a dropdown menu of options.
8] Click one. The API name will be used (“ga:date” instead of “Date”).
9] Click Make Request. If the button is greyed out, you are missing a required field.
If your request is valid, data will be returned. If not, you’ll need to review your request and try again.
I need to connect to something more granular than "View" in Google Analytics, can I do that?
Yes. This is an advanced feature that will expose a more granular option to meet your assignment needs. The most common example of this is when customers have unique GA Segments defined in their Google Analytics configuration for each of their advertisers. Instead of a separate Google Analytics Universal Analytics property for each customer, these organizations have a single UA and then apply GA Segments to the data to extract what is required for reporting. TapClicks can expose “Segment” in what is referred to in the TapClicks data profile as a Flex Mapping Name.
There are more applications for this advanced feature. To help you decide if this is a feature you need, ask yourself, what from Google Analytics represents a TapClicks client? This will help focus on what you might need to use for Flex Mapping.
| NOTE: Flex Mapping does require lead time to implement and this setting will be applied to an entire Google Analytics View. You cannot have multiple Flex Mappings defined for a single Google Analytics View. |
How can I report on Segment Data from Google Analytics?
You can work with your customer Success Manager to implement flexible mapping for your Google Analytics data. That way you can map your individual Google Analytics Segments to your client records and filter on that information for reporting purposes.
What if I need data from Google Analytics that TapClicks doesn’t quite support?
There are a few ways to approach this situation.
1] Request a custom GA DIY data view for your Google Analytics Data.
- Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com to start this process and
- Include the dimensions and metrics you need for reporting. You can request up to three Dimensions and seven Metrics. (Calculated fields are not counted against the seven metrics limit, but base values needed for calculations are.)
2] Review if the data you need can be accessed through On Demand Widgets.
- Similar to the Smart Connector option above, this will allow you to get to your data fast.
- This path has some limitations on which TapClicks features can be applied to the data set. For example, you cannot currently use Channels with on-demand data sets.
3] Submit a request to the product team to evaluate bringing this data into the Instant On connector.
- Make sure to include report extract examples so that we can review exactly the dimensions and metrics you’re looking for in your dashboard.
- If you need help with this process, feel free to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com.
If you prefer, you can create a Smart Connector to bring in this data. But, best practice is to expose a GA DIY for continuity with your Google Analytics data source and minimize needs for re-assigning and recreating dashboards, calculations, channels.
What fields are available for this data source?
After you connect a data source to TapClicks, you can use that data in your reports. These fields are organized into groups of similar types of data called Data Views.
For Google Analytics, you will find a list of all dimensions and fields available for use in TapClicks, organized by data view, here: Google Analytics.
What data can I assign to my Tap Client from this data source?
Level 1 - View
Level 2 - Subset