Forum Discussion
Does the Google Analytics connector bring in full data or sampled data?
This might seem like an odd question but does anyone know if the Google Analytics connector brings in sampled data or complete data? On large websites, Google will sample data to lessen data pull loads. However, this isn't helpful if you need accurate data (eg. sales, quantity, etc.).
Thank you!
We request all of the data. If the underlying data is itself sampled or incomplete, then of course we'd have no control over that -- but we will get everything that the Google API can give us.
"If the number of sessions in the property over the given date range exceeds 500k sessions (25M for Premium)1, Analytics will employ a sampling algorithm which uses a sample set proportional to the distribution of sessions by day for the selected date range."
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2637192
I don't know if this means per query in Power BI (my guess would be yes).
This means you need to break down your queries and keep duplicating...not ideal, but it works.
12 Replies
curthPower BI Team
We request all of the data. If the underlying data is itself sampled or incomplete, then of course we'd have no control over that -- but we will get everything that the Google API can give us.
Is there any indicator within Power BI Desktop that denotes that the data is sampled? The API would at least tell you it's not bringing in the full dataset, I believe.
No indicator. Interestingly enough this thread has an admin answer of the connection (content pack) only pulling the last 6 months. Here
I would suggest to use https://scitylana.com instead. This will pull all raw data unsampled from GA (free edition) into Power BI.
Hello,
I am using the GA connector for power bi.
Then I am exporting the data from powerbi in excel.
Exporting GA side data into excel from GA.
Then mapping both these excel files using VLOOKUP for transaction or order ids.
I see a lot of orders which are there in the GA side are missing in the powerbi side.
So, why don't we get the full transaction ids and the full set of revenues from the GA to the power bi side.
Also, we are using power BI pro account.
So, can someone kindly help? Is the issue due to sampling? Or how to resolve it?
Thanks in advance.
intrasightHelper IV
Because of the way this connector works, if you wish to avoid sampling, you'll have to go elsewhere. See
adelheniHelper III
Hi,
So Power bi's connector for google analytics has a sampling issue and an API Calls limit. The standard limitations and quotas for Google Analytics API requests are documented in Limits and Quotas on API Requests. However, Power BI Desktop and Power BI service allow you to use the following enhanced number of queries. Queries per day: 1,500,000 Queries per 100 seconds: 4,000 Might be better to connect Google analytics to a data warehouse such as Google BigQuery, which will help you get access to historical data that you won't be able to get with Power bi's connector. I'd suggest using a third-party connector.
