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Learn GCP / Google Analytics

This documentation explains how to configure and use Google Analytics.

Introduction

Google Analytics is a free service that tracks visits to public web pages. Each web page must embed a snippet of code that calls the Google Analytics service when the page is viewed, and Google keeps track of visits. A Google analytics "property" (unique identifier) is used to track an organization's data. The data can then be viewed on a dashboard.

Google does have access to the data but so does the organization that uses the service.

The first generation of Google Analytics used a "Universal Analytics property" whereas the current generation uses a "Google Analytics 4 property". The property must be properly handled.

Data Privacy Compliance

Data privacy is a major issue and is now covered by laws such as the following:

It is now common that websites show a prompt to opt in/out of website features including data collection. This information may be stored in cookies on the device.

Users may also install ad blockers and other web browser extensions that impact data collection, including Google Analytics. Ad blockers vary as to whether Google Analytics is blocked by default or is controlled by the user.

Consequently, Google Analytics data collection may be limited to users that do not use blockers and who have opted in to website data collection. Users may also control how their location information is shared.

Configuration of data collection may be specific to a website (e.g., using cookies) or generalized (e.g., ad blocker that affects all websites). These topics will be explored more in this documentation in the future as data privacy requirements are implemented and technologies are updated.

Set Up Account

To use Google Analytics, first set up an account.

After setting up an account, a URL similar to the following will show the Analytics dashboard.

https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/

Additional tasks include:

Google Analytics 4 Setup

This documentation was created on 2022-10-08.

Google Analytics 4 setup may occur for a new account or an existing account. For example, accessing the Analytics dashboard that uses an old Universal property provides a link to the following setup assistant, from which the Google Analytics 4 property can be created:

setup-assistant-1

Google Analytics 4 Property Setup Assistant (see full-size image)

Note that, as to be expected, the old and new Google Analytics features are not totally compatible. The checkbox at the bottom to enable data collection using the existing global site tag is not selected, which requires updating all Google Analytics pages to use the new Google Analytics 4 properties. This is done to ensure complete data collection. Press Get Started. The following will be shown.

setup-assistant-2

Create a new Google Analytics 4 property (see full-size image)

Press Create property. This will create the property and show the GA4 Property Name and Property ID (an integer). However, this is not the identifier needed for web page tracking. Use the Analytics dashboard and Settings tool to confirm information:

  • Use the Data Streams tool to ensure that the Stream URL is expected, which should agree with an organization's main URL. This also shows the alphanumeric Measurement ID of form G-12345ABCDE, which is the identifier needed in web pages to track visits.

Activation of the Google Analytics 4 Property may not be instantaneous, which can be frustrating because a "Data not flowing" message may be shown. An email is sent by Google to the account administrator indicating that Analytics is updated, for example as shown below.

analytics-welcome-email

Google Analytics Welcome Email (see full-size image)

At about the time that this is received, the data stream should show "Data is flowing" and "Data collection is active in the past 48 hours", as shown below.

web-stream-details

Web Stream Details for Active Data Collection (see full-size image)

Add Google Analytics 4 property to a Site

The following documentation to add analytics to a site.

See the following background information if the site that is already using analytics, such as the older Universal property:

The Google Analytics dashboard does not show the GA4 tag, which has syntax G-XXXXXXXXXX and instead shows an integer identifier. See the following to look up the GA4 tag:

HTML Page

To enable GA4 in HTML pages, insert code like the following in the <head> section of a web page. This must be done for every page that will use analytics. Replace G-XXXXXXXXXX with the tag for the organization.

<!-- Start Google Analytics 4 property. -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>
<!-- End Google Analytics 4 property. -->

Angular Application

The Open Water Foundation develops Angular applications. Additional information will be added in the future explaining how to use GA4 with an Angular application.

MkDocs Documentation

The Open Water Foundation uses MkDocs to create documentation websites like this website.

WordPress Website

The Open Water Foundation uses WordPress for its main website. Additional information will be added in the future explaining how to use GA4 with an WordPress.

Additional Google Analytics 4 Configuration

The following sections explain additional details for how to configure Google Analytics 4.

Filter Out Publishing Organization

The organization that publishes web content is often active in viewing those pages. However, counting those page hits skews the results. Therefore, it is desirable to filter out the publishing organization's visits.

Need to explain how...

Handle Subdomains

An organization's main domain may be used for the public website. Additional subdomains may be used to publish additional content. For example, the Open Water Foundation uses the https://learn.openwaterfoundation.org website to publish educational information. Many of the top-level pages on the subdomain sites are similar (e.g., main /index.html landing pages) and specific pages may be difficult to differentiate between websites. Therefore, it is desirable that analytics differentiate between the subdomains.

Need to explain how...

Troubleshooting

The following are common troubleshooting issues.

Page Visits are Not Being Listed in Google Analytics

Problem: Page visits may not be listed in the GA4 dashboard.

Possible Causes:

  • A bad GA4 configuration may cause analytics to not send results to the correct GA4 tag account. Check the GA4 tag ID and configuration.
  • Using a web browser ad blocker such as Ublock Origin may by default disable GA4. The ad blocker can be disabled temporarily to verify that the GA4 configuration is correct. Users may not be skilled enough or want to add Google domains as trusted sites. Therefore other solutions may need to be implemented to ensoure that GA4 works with an ad blocker. These solutions are not discussed here.

Resources

See the following resources for GA4: