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Anonymous
Not applicable

Google Analytics Data Not Matching

Hello,

 

I've imported a Google Analytics dataset/report/dashboard from the Services Content Pack Library and although it's imported successfully, when I check the Sessions/Hits data and compare it to the dashboard on Google Analytics itself, the figures don't match up day by day and not just by a small amount.

 

I'm in the UK so wondering if there's any strange regional differences that are skewing the figures into different days?

 

Has anyone got a GA Power BI dashboard that matches their actual GA dashboard?

 

Thanks

12 REPLIES 12
Maaike
Regular Visitor

I had the same problem. After removing the age and gender dimensions like jaxbi suggested my problem was solved.

The reason is probably that not every user has a age and gender attached to it, so you only see the users that do have this information attached. Which for me was about 10% of my total data. 

 

 

andre
Memorable Member
Memorable Member

I think that the time ranges in the content pack and on the Google Analytics page are different which may explain whey the numbers don't match

Anonymous
Not applicable

So I tried deleting the dataset/report/dashboard and re-adding via the Get Data (content pack) online option and the session/hit figures were still wrong...

 

I then connected via Power BI Desktop and seleted Date, Session, Hits etc and created a report and the figures match exactly with what is showing on the Google Analytics portal itself day by day.

 

Therefore Desktop must just be pulling through the data from Google Analytics and not doing anything with it except displaying, so what is the online Get Data > Content Pack option doing with the GA data?

 

I would really like the online option to work as I have a few people in our business who would love to do this, but I don't want to start having to use Desktop for things like this.

 

Thanks

We actually use the same path as the Desktop to build the content packs, the particular query may be slightly different and include other dimensions such as country and other fields you can see in the dataset. The other main difference will be that the content pack has a scheduled refresh (once a day) unless you use the "refresh now" capability.

 

You mention sessions, are you looking at total sessions or sessions per day? The value by day should match what you're seeing in Google Analytics, however due to the refresh schedule in Power BI (vs. near real time in Google Analytics) you may see some differences in the totals or the value for today. Also the content pack only pulls in data from the last 6 months if you're looking at complete totals.

 

You can also publish the work you do in the Desktop into Power BI and schedule it to refresh as well. Many users go down that path to customize their dataset to include additional information that's not included in the content pack.

Anonymous
Not applicable

I'm looking at sessions/hits and pageviews by day, for the last 90 days.

 

Yes I can create in Desktop and publish but the whole point of the content pack is that I can send a very simple instruction people in our business on how they can get GA into their dashboards.

Agreed, using the content pack is an easier initial experience. Custom dashboards built off of Desktop files can also be shared within your organization through the Organization content packs as well. It would be good to know if you're having the same issues refreshing the Desktop files in the service though, to help narrow down the possible causes.  Another thing would be interesting to see is your configuration of Google Analytics, I'll direct message you to exchange screenshots.

Anonymous
Not applicable

I can use content packs yes but I would need to enable Pro for those users and if after 60 days we are not going to purchase licenses for those users then we're back to where we were at the beginning.

 

Yes please message me and we'll see if we can nail the issue.

I am experiencing a similar problem.

It seems to occur when i use the dimension 'Age'

 

I have found on another source that 'Age' is depreciated but there is another 'Age' available. This also aplies to Gender, count of sessions, session duration.

 

If i dont use the Age dimension my data matches Google's

 

Does power Bi need an update to Google Analytics?

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

I'm using the content pack directly online. I'm going to delete the dashboard/report/dataset and try again.

The users data seems to match up but the sessions/hits/page views don't.

I'm going to add it again and triple check I'm doing everything right.
Greg_Deckler
Super User
Super User

I can say that in at least one instance the figures I see match exactly. So on Google Analytics under "Dashboard | Private | My Dashboard" for a particular web property the numbers in the chart for "Users" match exactly with my Power BI dashboard chart for "Total Users" tab.


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Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks for the reply, I can see that my users data matches between GA and Power BI GA.

 

Can you check your sessions, hits and page views to see if they match?

 

Thanks you

Thanks for reporting this Andy. I'm seeing the data match on our side as well, are you looking at the totals or the daily values (or something else)? There may be a slight discrepancy especially in the totals as Google Analytics will show the data near real time and Power BI has the daily refresh schedule, but comparing the values for yesterday for example should definitely match up.

 

Also curious - are you using at the content pack or connecting directly in the Power BI Desktop?

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