Really good video. Explained a lot if what is going on with Looker Studio and missing GA4 data. Lordy, I only wanted to make a New v Returning donut chart. Lol, I was sooo easy in Data Studio/UA.
Hello, In GA4 I am unable to see old website data beyond 12 month but I am able to see old 10 years of data in universal analytics. Is this a setup problem or GA4 issue
It could be a couple of things. 1) It depends on when you implemented GA4. The standard reports should show you historic data back to your initial implementation. However, if you only deployed GA4 12 months ago, that's all the data that you'll see. 2) If you're using Explore reports, the default cutoff date is only 2 months. You can change this in the admin to 14 months, but that's as far back as the data will go. The only way to expand this is to connect to Google BigQuery or some other data warehousing solution.
Hey Roy, thank you. I have a question. I recently started with new employer, we are a lead gen agency, we only use excel to report ad spends and analysis from facebook, linkedin, google etc. I am looking for a solution Big Query or PowerBI. Does Big query allow to import data from various ga4 accounts and websites into same project? So we can analyse ourall performance for clients.
Hi, great question. You can import data from any number of sources into BigQuery. This includes not only GA4, but ERP systems, CRMs, uploaded spreadsheets, etc. All of these data sources can be referenced in a project using SQL. Just keep in mind that there is a charge for using BQ after you reach a certain number of queries and data usage.
HI, thanks for the helpful video! I have a problem, maybe you know how to solve it. I generate 20GB worth of events per day. When I connect via the bigquery, then I create a table and a date filter, then we can generate from 4 to 8 automatic queries in the bigquery. And this is only one sign! maybe there are some ways to cache a large table or some best practices so that queries are not duplicated ?
There are a number of ways to reduce the size of your queries. The first thing to check is that your queries aren't using a wild card (SELECT *), but rather specifying the data columns you want to query. You can also cluster or partition tables in BigQuery, which should cut down on the amount of data your query is using. For instance, you can create partitions based on date range, which create "smaller" sets of data to query.
@@apothecamarketing Thank you very much for your advice! I partitioned the table, but when using the filter, at least 4 queries of 20 GB are automatically generated. The fact is that I have a lot of data and 20 GB are generated per day. I wonder if it is possible to cache a large table and use it without automatic queries?
Hi there, I remember Bigquery sandbox only will stored 60days data if not mistaken. After that, it will rewrite the data again if 61th day data is stored in bigquery again. Could you help to confirm this? What should we do for this?
Yes, this is true. If you add a credit card to your account, I believe you get the expanded time frame, with "free" usage up to the set limits. After that Google charges. Frankly, I think this is Google showing that it will essentially start moving toward paid services more and more in the future. Here's more about the limits for BigQuery: cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/sandbox#limits
@@apothecamarketing You dont pay for GA4 but you also have to live with its limits, you dont own your data until you export it and there is no support you can ask for help. Its not a bad tool but it has its downsides.
Oh, totally agree. But it is a change from Universal Analytics, which had "free" and unlimited storage. As I've said, it's Google's move toward charging for services.
![[2023] Linking GA4 to BigQuery (The RIGHT Way!)](/img/n.gif)
Your voice is so smooth it's a joy to listen to you, thank you for explaining this so comprehensively!
Thank you!
Massively helpful video on the changes coming with Universal Analytics sun setting
Thanks! I'm glad it was useful. There are definitely a lot of changes that people need to be prepared for.
well laid out video... I was trying so hard to avoid big query
Thanks! Yes, BigQuery isn't my favorite BI/data tool.
@@apothecamarketing what is your favorite?
I've had good luck with Domo and Power BI.
Great content, lots of insights here that I had no idea about!
Thanks! Glad you found it useful.
Really good video. Explained a lot if what is going on with Looker Studio and missing GA4 data. Lordy, I only wanted to make a New v Returning donut chart. Lol, I was sooo easy in Data Studio/UA.
Glad it helped! Let us know if there is anything else that you would like to see.
Very good content! You gave a good idea on how to proceed and evaluate next steps
Thanks! I'm glad it was useful. Let us know what else you'd like to see in the future.
THank you for your helpful content ❤
You're so welcome!
Hello, In GA4 I am unable to see old website data beyond 12 month but I am able to see old 10 years of data in universal analytics. Is this a setup problem or GA4 issue
It could be a couple of things. 1) It depends on when you implemented GA4. The standard reports should show you historic data back to your initial implementation. However, if you only deployed GA4 12 months ago, that's all the data that you'll see. 2) If you're using Explore reports, the default cutoff date is only 2 months. You can change this in the admin to 14 months, but that's as far back as the data will go. The only way to expand this is to connect to Google BigQuery or some other data warehousing solution.
Hey Roy, thank you. I have a question. I recently started with new employer, we are a lead gen agency, we only use excel to report ad spends and analysis from facebook, linkedin, google etc. I am looking for a solution Big Query or PowerBI. Does Big query allow to import data from various ga4 accounts and websites into same project? So we can analyse ourall performance for clients.
Hi, great question. You can import data from any number of sources into BigQuery. This includes not only GA4, but ERP systems, CRMs, uploaded spreadsheets, etc. All of these data sources can be referenced in a project using SQL. Just keep in mind that there is a charge for using BQ after you reach a certain number of queries and data usage.
HI, thanks for the helpful video! I have a problem, maybe you know how to solve it. I generate 20GB worth of events per day. When I connect via the bigquery, then I create a table and a date filter, then we can generate from 4 to 8 automatic queries in the bigquery. And this is only one sign! maybe there are some ways to cache a large table or some best practices so that queries are not duplicated ?
There are a number of ways to reduce the size of your queries. The first thing to check is that your queries aren't using a wild card (SELECT *), but rather specifying the data columns you want to query. You can also cluster or partition tables in BigQuery, which should cut down on the amount of data your query is using. For instance, you can create partitions based on date range, which create "smaller" sets of data to query.
@@apothecamarketing Thank you very much for your advice! I partitioned the table, but when using the filter, at least 4 queries of 20 GB are automatically generated. The fact is that I have a lot of data and 20 GB are generated per day. I wonder if it is possible to cache a large table and use it without automatic queries?
It's difficult for me to say without more details. But I'm not sure why the queries would be automatic?
Hi there, I remember Bigquery sandbox only will stored 60days data if not mistaken. After that, it will rewrite the data again if 61th day data is stored in bigquery again. Could you help to confirm this?
What should we do for this?
Yes, this is true. If you add a credit card to your account, I believe you get the expanded time frame, with "free" usage up to the set limits. After that Google charges. Frankly, I think this is Google showing that it will essentially start moving toward paid services more and more in the future. Here's more about the limits for BigQuery: cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/sandbox#limits
@@apothecamarketing thank you for the explanation. Means it really not "free" as what they mentioned now..
Good vid
Thanks!
No price no rights
I'm not sure what you mean.
@@apothecamarketing You dont pay for GA4 but you also have to live with its limits, you dont own your data until you export it and there is no support you can ask for help. Its not a bad tool but it has its downsides.
Oh, totally agree. But it is a change from Universal Analytics, which had "free" and unlimited storage. As I've said, it's Google's move toward charging for services.