Source: moz (en-US). Read the original article
TL;DR Summary of Why You Should Export Your GA4 Data to BigQuery
Exporting GA4 data to BigQuery unlocks powerful benefits like unlimited data retention and elimination of sampling issues. It is free to link GA4 with BigQuery, with only minimal storage costs. Accessing raw data allows for greater customization, more granular analysis without row limits, and combining GA4 data with other sources for deeper insights.
Optimixed’s Overview: Unlocking Advanced Analytics by Exporting GA4 Data to BigQuery
Key Benefits of Exporting GA4 Data to BigQuery
Linking your GA4 property to BigQuery enables you to harness raw analytics data, overcoming many common limitations of the GA4 interface. Here are the primary advantages:
- Cost-effective Setup: Establishing the GA4-BigQuery connection is free, requiring only a Google Cloud account. Storage costs are minimal and may be free for average traffic volumes.
- Unlimited Data Retention: Unlike GA4’s 14-month limit on user and event-level data in the interface, BigQuery stores your raw data indefinitely, allowing historic analysis over any timeframe.
- Elimination of Sampling: BigQuery access removes GA4’s sampling constraints present when handling over 10 million events, ensuring accurate, unsampled data for analysis.
- Granular Data Access without Cardinality Limits: Avoid the “Other” row lumping seen in GA4 reports, enabling detailed segmentation and exploration of all your data points.
- Full Customization: Modify your data as needed—exclude spam, fix conversion tracking issues, create custom sessions and user properties usable across all reporting platforms.
- Advanced Attribution Modeling: Build custom attribution metrics such as first click, last click, or linear models directly on raw data for precise marketing insights.
- Data Integration: Seamlessly combine GA4 data with other sources like Google Ads, Search Console, or CRM systems to enrich analysis and drive informed decisions.
Important Considerations
Note that the BigQuery export does not backfill historical GA4 data; it only starts collecting data from the moment the connection is established. This makes immediate setup essential to capture ongoing data.
Conclusion
Exporting GA4 data to BigQuery empowers analysts and marketers with raw, unsampled, and infinitely retained data that is highly customizable and integrable. This greatly enhances the ability to generate actionable insights, making it a valuable step for anyone serious about data-driven decision making.
