If you’re a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) user, you can harness the power of BigQuery, an integral part of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), to supercharge your analytics. 

BigQuery serves as a robust data warehouse, offering seamless integration with GA4. Google has further enhanced this integration to include Audience level datasets, but you must ensure you enable this data source in GA4.

You can then connect your GA4 data with other cloud platforms, such as Azure, or have a fully operational GCP data warehouse to boost your web and app analytics.

The benefits of bringing GA4 data into BigQuery

• Comprehensive analysis: Connecting event and  audience data from GA4 to BigQuery provides an in-depth understanding of user interactions and business performance. You can build customised reporting, compliment with other data such as CRM, and activate data based on your company’s requirements and objectives. By connecting GA4 to GCP, you are not impacted by cardinality, thresholding or the GA4 retention limit.
• Future-proofing data: Backing up Universal Analytics (UA) data in BigQuery ensures data continuity. Google will be deleting all UA data access in July 2024, so if you don’t back it up in BigQuery now you will lose it.
• Free integration: GA4 offers a free integration with BigQuery, making it a cost-effective and accessible solution for businesses of all sizes.

Getting started

Start using BigQuery to unlock the potential of GA4 today:

• Link BigQuery to GA4: Follow GA4’s admin settings to link BigQuery and enable the audience level datasets. We’ve written a guide to help you with this process here.
• Back up UA data: Take advantage of BigQuery’s storage capabilities to safeguard UA data for future analysis. We recommend doing this as soon as possible, to identify any additional UA data you wish to back up before the July 2024 deadline.
• Explore advanced analytics: Unleash the potential of GA4 data to understand your users’ journey, optimise and enhance, and identify new audiences to target in your acquisition activity.

Speak to us if you need any help or advice with these solutions.