CODEWITHSUNDEEP
google-analytics-api
Micah Wood
Micah Wood

Reputation: 11

Why is custom variable data in the Google Analytics Data Export API data different from my Google Analytics dashboard?

I have a custom variable defined on my site and the data is being recorded properly in my Google Analytics account. When I go to access the data via the Google Data Feed Query Explorer, the data I get isn't the same. Really, this is only the case with 'Visits' and any metrics calculated using it.

This is what I see in my dashboard: http://www.screencast.com/t/QJl21ZOmpw

This is what I see in the query explorer: http://www.screencast.com/t/WNGLiUUWum

I made sure the time frame matches and have pulled the same metrics. 'Hits' (aka pageviews) match up perfectly every time. Visits is obviously off and seems to be messing up other metrics that depend on it, such as 'Pages/Visit' (aka pageviews per visit).

I have reviewed the code and the custom variable is being set prior to recording the pageview. Am I missing something? My understanding is that Google Uses this exact same API to run their Analytics Dashboard, so why am I getting different data?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 627

Answers (1)

M Schenkel
M Schenkel

Reputation: 6364

Try removing the visitors metric from your feed in the Query Explorer. A "Visitor" is different than a "Visit". I believe the stats of the Google Analytics screenshot have nothing to do with visitors. And including this metric might actually limit your result set to the unique visitors (I think).

Upvotes: 1

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