Apple iOS 17 release, GA4 Checklist, LookerStudio dashboard and more
Thomas Symann
?? I help analysts to spend less time fixing, and more time analysing. ?? Follow me for inspiration.
Hi there!
Thomas here. I help analysts to spend less time fixing data and more time analyzing it.
First of all, thank you for signing up for my newsletter. Your vote of confidence means a lot to me, and I’ll work hard to keep creating value for you.?
What you can expect from my newsletters:?
? Fundamentals in web analytics
? Advanced analytics with BigQuery
? Industry updates, esp. GA4
Today, I have quite a number of updates to share with you!
#1 Apple iOS released "Link Tracking Protection"
With the latest release of iOS 17 in mid-September, Apple released a new feature called Link Tracking Protection. Safari will remove certain tracking parameters automatically from all Links used in Safari, Apple Mail, and Messages. These parameters are currently gclid, dclid, fbclid, twclkd, msclkid, mc_eid and igshid. More might be added in the future.
However, UTM parameters will not be removed. For now.
Currently, this LTP feature is only 'on' by default in Private Browser Mode, but users can also activate it for regular browsing. This means that the impact should be tolerable.
Nevertheless, there will be sessions now recorded in your dataset that are missing the GCLID. Using auto-tagging with UTM-override can keep at least the campaign information available, but all campaigns in Google Ads would need to have the proper UTMs included in the final URL which would cause additional effort.
#2 Free GA4 Audit Checklist
While working on some audits over the last month, I ended up creating my own checklist for GA4 setups. Unlike other lists you might find on the internet, every item that made it to my list is there for a reason and plays a part in the outcome of your audit. You’ll find 23 of what I think are the most common issues with GA4 setups, as well as the recommended settings.
Whether you're new to GA4 or looking to refine your current setup, I guarantee this list will provide value.
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#3 Real-time GA4 dashboard in LookerStudio
A frustrated client asked me, “Thomas, is there a way to get a faster overview of basic KPIs in GA4?”?
I bet many of you share his frustration too. The processing in GA4 just takes too long.
In my opinion, BigQuery is one of the best approaches for many reports and analyses. I’ve built a very simple dashboard in LookerStudio that shows the basic KPIs from GA4, with the current day and the same day from last week for comparison.
#4 Bringing the page value back to GA4
If page value is something you are missing in GA4, this blog post can help you rebuild a report or metric in BigQuery. It does a good job of explaining how to calculate the page value in BQ?based on GA4 data. I like that the SQL query shared is simple and effective. It will help you gain insights into the value of individual pages and their contribution to the final conversion.
#5 User-aggregated Export for BigQuery
Good news: You can now have two additional tables in BigQuery containing user-aggregated data.?
Caveat: This feature requires activation for each property, so take action now.
? Here’s how: 1. Go to the GA4 Property linked to BigQuery. 2. Open the linking settings. 3. At the bottom of that page, look for a new checkbox named "User Data". 4. Check this box and save the change. Note: The new tables will appear in your BQ account within 24 hours.
There's more
That's all for this month's edition of "The Daily Web Analyst".
I hope you found this newsletter informative and valuable for your work in digital analytics. As always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions on future topics to cover.
Thank you for reading, and happy analyzing.
What topic made you busy the last month? Comment below!