Google analytics variables limitations

Question

We are in the process of deciding if we go for Omniture or Google Analytics.

Some information regarding GA seems outdated on the Net, and it is not easy to find the relevant answers to our questions.

In particular, I would appreciate some pointers regarding, in Google Analytics

• is there a limitation of the number of custom variables?
• is there a limitation of the type of variables that can be used?

and besides,

• what is your experience in the delay between the moment the data is recorded GA side, and the time it is made available to the GA account (read 2~10 hours?)

Thanks

Answer 1

In Google Universal Analytics, you can set up to 20 "Custom Dimensions" and "Custom Metrics", see https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/custom-dims-mets

These enable you do just about everything you currently do with custom variables. Only downside is that they are not displayed in any standard reports, but are very powerful when used in custom reports.

Answer 2

There are 5 custom variable slots. Any given pageview/visit/visitor can only occupy up to 5. In theory, you could have thousands of different variables, but the slots are overriding. ie, you can't store 'Is Logged In' in the same slot as 'Is Paid User' if you want to be able to track both on the same pageview, session, or user. But, you could use the same slot for mutually-exclusive variables that you know won't ever overlap (like, 'banned user' and 'Admin').

There's also a 6th possible variable value known as "User Defined Variable" (called by _setVar), which is the deprecated ancestor to Custom Variables, but for backwards compatibility reasons will likely always be around. It is a single slot, visitor level, that lets you define one key-value pair.

The 'type' is basically any key-value string pair, with a limitation that the combined length of any given custom variable's key and value cannot exceed 128 characters. You can set the scope of the custom variable to be at the page-level (pageview), session-level (visit), or user-level (visitor).

The length of time for data processing is inconsistent. Sometimes, the most basic data from pageviews, transactions and events appears within minutes, but then some of the accompanying data (source information, custom variable values, etc) does not process for another few hours. Only on vary rare occasions does it take longer than 24 hours for a full snapshot of a day to be available.

Answer 3

I would like to add that GA and SC are in no way comparable products when you are talking about measurement you want to base decisions on.

GA wins hands down on setup and configuration (and no cost, especially no extra costs), but if you want to measure anything on visitor level, need real time figures or want to have any support, choose something else than GA. Based on you question and the very informative answer provided, I think you did.