How to Install Google Analytics without Tag Manager You decided to install Google Analytics (GA) to track your website visits, and you wonder whether you can do it without Google Tag Manager (GTM). The good news is that there is no need use Google Tag Manager to set up Google Analytics. To collect GA data without GTM, … Read more
Replicate Default Channel Grouping in BigQuery Published on December 30, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina On October 10, 2024, Google added the Session Default and Session Custom Channel Group data to the BigQuery GA4 events export to the following fields: session_traffic_source_last_click.cross_channel_campaign.default_channel_group session_traffic_source_last_click.cross_channel_campaign.primary_channel_group If you never created a Custom Channel Group in GA4, then these two fields … Read more
Understanding GA4 BigQuery Medium, Source, and Campaign Data Updated on November 09, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina Whether you want to build custom multi-touch attribution models or recreate the Default Channel Grouping using Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data in BigQuery, first you need to know where to find the data. However, working with GA4 Medium, Source, … Read more
Pros and Cons of BigQuery GA4 Export Find out if building reporting based on BigQuery Google Analytics data is for you by understanding its advantages and drawbacks Updated on June 14, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina The goal of this article is to summarize the pros and cons of using BigQuery Google Analytics 4 (GA4 ) data … Read more
4 Ways to Export Google Analytics Data History Updated on July 14, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina According to Google data retention policy, standard GA4 properties keep 14 months of history. In real life, I have seen that period extended to 24 months. You are probably here because you opened Google Analytics reports and realized that … Read more
Backfill GA4 Data in BigQuery Published on July 12, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina GA4 BigQuery backfill ensures comprehensive historical data analysis. This guide walks you through backfilling GA4 data into BigQuery for data continuity and in-depth historical analysis. Raw GA4 export to BigQuery is not retroactive, and backfilling historical GA4 data is often a necessary … Read more
Two ways to UNNEST GA4 data in BigQuery Published June 15, 2024 by Tanya Zyabkina Google Analytics 4 (GA4) BigQuery export data is optimized for storage, not usage, and thus can be confusing and difficult to analyze. Array fields are particularly challenging. A simple explanation of the array data type is they are small tables … Read more
GA4 BigQuery Cost Before you dive in, understand how much a Google Analytics BigQuery data warehouse is going to cost you The goal of this post is to summarize my experience of using BigQuery GA4 export data to help others decide whether they want to build their Google Analytics reporting based on BigQuery export data. … Read more