Forum Discussion
Data from Google Analytics Doesn't Match!
I've got response from the product team.
This is expected behavior. The API we're using for Google Analytics is the one available to free users, and that API is known to return less accurate values for high volume sites due to the way it samples data. Unfortunately, the API for Google Analytics Premium customers is significantly different than that for the free users, so we'd need to implement a new connector specifically for Premium in order to get the more accurate values. This is not currently on our roadmap. Customers who would like to see this feature should request it or upvote it (if already there) at ideas.powerbi.com.
Best Regards,
Herbert
Thank you for the explanation and warning regarding my particular scenario.
When I mentioned other conectors, I was referring to the connectors within Power BI. I take it from your comment that we run into the same issues using the inbuilt PBI connectors then.
Do the connectors on www.scitylana.com/connectors solve the issues?
Which kind of makes the PBI connectors pretty much pointless for medium to large traffic websites/social media sites. Unless I guess we keep the reporting to the very basic and avoiding aggregations? Or does sampling also have a big impact? I'm not sure what the impact sampling actually has (apologies again, I'm new to sources such as GA, Facebook, Instagram etc...but I will be facing these issues in the next two weeks)
It seems therefore that Power BI is not the tool to monitor web activity, unless you are prepared to fork out a relevant amount of €€€, which I guess is out of the question for most medium and small businesses (with free alternatives out there).
BTW, how should I contact you or whoever to understand the licensing for Scitylana? I have checked the page and I have a couple of doubts.
Thanks.
The connectors have their week spots.
This is nothing new, really. Classic ETL into a DW is still preferable in my opinion.
Power BI + connectors is entry level BI. But it's really great for entry level BI setups
Web activity just pushes it to the limit faster that the other data sources. But these kind of web activity data sources gets more and more normal. Power BI raises peoples expectations faster than other products out there.
MS has a whole suite of products you can buy when you grow out of the Pro licensing.
My free connectors has the same limits.
But Scitylana's Google Analytics solution is solid with built-in elasticity for growth.
As opposed to the connectors and PBI Import mode - DirectQuery in Power BI is much more relevant than one would initially think.
I think a combination of import and direct will be the future. To balance cost and performance.
That's good for the BI Analysts consultants. New types of complexity sees the light. :)
Sampling is mostly an issue when you want to
- integrate data sources (joining keys will be missing)
- calculate conversion rates (conversion rate of 5% could in reality be 7.5% or 2.5%)
- drill into user behavior
- rely on the real values
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