"We found an unexpected character in the JSON input" error while loading data from GA4 to Power BI

[RVAL]

No problem is data fresh on Power BI service. But the error shows up while adding new datafields from GA4 to power Bi

[mfinlay]

We currently have a form of this issue re-occurring whereby we get this "unexpected character" issue when trying to authenticate the GA connection in the Power BI service.

We're using OAuth2 and authenticating directly to GA from the Power BI service. The user account can login to GA, and can authenicate and refresh in Power BI desktop, but when we try and enter correct credentials in the Power BI service we get this JSON error.

We've tried reducing the volume of data brought across the GA connector, and using Power Query to eliminate errors but still get the issue.

We're having to manually refresh the report 4 times a day, so it's far from ideal. This connector has been quite unreliable over the last 24 months or so.

[hawke]

I am getting the same error.  On two tables, I was able to refresh and error went away, but on one table the error message persists. We really need a solution.

[RVAL]

Has anyone discovered a solution to this issue? It keeps happening, but I'm hopeful we'll find a fix soon. I haven't heard back from Microsoft Community Support yet, but I'm staying optimistic!

[mfinlay]

We're hitting the same issue, despite no changes to the Power BI report. Has anyone been able to identify what invalid JSON/ASCII characters are throwing this error? We're seeing inconsistent results (sometimes the reports refresh, sometimes they don't) so it's proving very difficult to isolate the issue.

thanks

Matt

[sharonlaunwi]

The same error occured this week several times from schedule referesh.  How to prevent and solve this issues?

[RVAL]

The same error occured this week several times.I am trying to bring in a new column into the Google Analytics import and get this error - 

DataFormat.Error: We found an unexpected character in the JSON input.
Details:
Value=\31
Position=0

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @RVAL ,

The error you describe usually indicates a problem with the format of the imported JSON data, possibly due to unexpected characters that Power BI can not handle.

I recommend that you check your JSON data for any unsupported characters or symbols that Power BI may not recognize.

This includes, but is not limited to, control characters or extended ASCII characters that may be inadvertently included in the data.

If your JSON data is complex, try simplifying the structure or breaking the data into smaller chunks. Power BI may have difficulty processing very complex or large JSON files.

For information on using JSON data in Power BI, please see:

Power Query JSON connector - Power Query | Microsoft Learn

Since you are using GA4 data, make sure you follow the correct steps to connect Power BI to Google Analytics 4.

For a detailed guide on this process, please see:

Power Query Google Analytics connector - Power Query | Microsoft Learn

If you are still having issues after trying these steps, I would be grateful if you could provide more details of your problem.

Best Regards,
Yang
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution  to help the other members find it more quickly.
If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

[RVAL]

Do you have any solution or update to this ? The same error has occured several times this week.

[RVAL]

The same error occured this week several times.I am trying to bring in a new column into the Google Analytics import into PBI and get this error - 

DataFormat.Error: We found an unexpected character in the JSON input.
Details:
Value=\31
Position=0