Forum Discussion
Google Analytics Data Not Matching
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
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.
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.
