New technological changes and regulations are impacting how businesses collect and analyze data. Google Analytics is committed to providing users with the most accurate and reliable attribution data possible to ensure you can continue to make informed decisions about your marketing efforts.
Here's how Google Analytics is elevating data quality and making high-quality data the standard in this dynamic environment:
Enhanced data completeness
To provide a comprehensive understanding of your consumers’ journeys, Google Analytics is continuously working to enhance data completeness. This includes addressing scenarios where traditional identifiers might not be available due to user consent choices.
- Aggregate identifiers: We’ve started rolling out aggregate identifiers to maintain reporting accuracy in situations where Google Analytics cannot automatically retrieve campaign information from Google Ads using the Google Click Identifier (GCLID). This helps mitigate potential over-attribution of Google Paid channels to Organic.
- Smart fallback mechanisms: When the Google Click Identifier (GCLID) cannot be used, Google Analytics will utilize aggregate identifiers as a secondary option. Manual tagging (UTMs), and more specifically utm_campaign, can serve as the final fallback to ensure campaign attribution accuracy when other identifiers are unavailable, and helps reduce instances where traffic is incorrectly labeled as “Organic.”
Updated data presentation for actionable insights
Understanding your data is crucial for effective decision-making. Google Analytics is updating how we present certain data by incorporating tool tips with explanations for additional transparency and context. Users can hover over them and access helpful articles explaining the meaning of the labels and data statuses. Below are two examples of new data labels you might encounter:
- "Data not available": A new label, '(data not available)', will appear in traffic source fields (Source and Medium) when Google Analytics hasn't received or processed the information, often due to delays with processing intervals. This enhancement improves accuracy and helps distinguish between what users can address and what's not addressable as a result of system processing.
- (not set): The label, '(not set)', appears in your reports as a placeholder name when Google Analytics has not received any information for a specific dimension. This can stem from various reasons, such as tracking implementation or configuration issues, user privacy settings, data processing intervals, or missing parameters. Often there are changes a user can make to reduce rates of (not set) values like enabling auto tagging or linking your Google Ads account and Analytics property.
Gaining deeper insights
Google Analytics is empowering users to proactively identify and address potential implementation issues that can impact data quality.
- Proactive data quality indicator: The data quality indicator menu, accessed at the top of reports, acts as a proactive early warning system. It helps identify and resolve implementation errors. For example, when a report shows a high rate of missing session_start events, we display an icon that when interacted with will explain the issue detected, the cause and a link to more information, including how to resolve them. These tools provide guidance and resources to help users ensure accurate data collection. We will continue adding these capabilities for potential incorrect user-ID implementation in the near future.
- System-generated annotations: Google Analytics has introduced system-generated annotations within reports to inform users about changes that may impact their data. This keeps users informed about the evolving features and how they might affect their analytics. These annotations look similar to user created annotations, except that they can’t be edited or deleted.
High quality and reliable data is critical to driving your business forward and remains our top priority. These updates reflect our ongoing efforts to ensure you have the reliable insights you need to drive ROI and we will continue updating this page with relevant updates in the future.