Google Analytics 4

Troubleshooting GA4 connection issues

If your GA4 connection is not working as expected, this article covers the most common issues and how to fix them. Authorization fails Problem: The Google sign-in window shows an error or the authorization does not complete. Possible causes: - Pop-up blocker preventing the OAuth window. - Wrong Google account selected. - The Google account does not have access to any GA4 properties. Solutions: 1. Allow pop-ups for app.datadrew.io and accounts.google.com. 2. Sign into the correct Google account before starting the connection. Use an incognito window if you have multiple accounts. 3. Verify your GA4 access by visiting analytics.google.com and checking that you can see your property. No properties listed after authorization Problem: You authorize successfully but no GA4 properties appear for selection. Possible causes: - The Google account only has access to Universal Analytics properties (not GA4). - Your GA4 property was recently created and permissions have not propagated. - You have Viewer access at the account level but the property-level permissions are restricted. Solutions: 1. Confirm you have a GA4 property (not Universal Analytics) by checking for properties starting with a numeric ID in your GA4 admin. 2. Ask your GA4 administrator to grant you at least Viewer role on the specific property. 3. Wait a few minutes and try again if the property was just created. Data sync stopped Problem: GA4 data was syncing but has stopped updating. Possible causes: - Google revoked the refresh token (password change, removing Datadrew from authorized apps). - The GA4 property was deleted or your access was removed. Solutions: 1. Go to Settings > Integrations and check the status of your GA4 integration. 2. If it shows disconnected, click Reconnect and complete the authorization again. 3. Verify your GA4 property still exists and you have access at analytics.google.com. GA4 numbers differ from the GA4 dashboard Problem: Metrics in Datadrew do not match what you see in the GA4 interface. Possible causes: - Data freshness -- GA4 can take 24 to 48 hours to finalize data for a given day. If you are comparing today's or yesterday's data, it may not yet be final. - Sampling -- The GA4 interface may apply sampling to large datasets. Datadrew uses the GA4 Data API which may return different sampling behavior. - Filters and comparisons -- Ensure you are using the same date range and no filters in the GA4 interface. - Timezone -- Your GA4 property timezone and the date range you select must align. Solutions: 1. Wait 48 hours before comparing very recent data. 2. Check the date range and timezone match exactly. 3. If the discrepancy is significant and persists for historical dates, contact us with details. Missing e-commerce data Problem: GA4 sessions and users appear, but purchases, add-to-carts, or revenue are zero. Possible causes: - GA4 e-commerce tracking is not set up on your Shopify store. - Your Google tag or GA4 configuration tag is not firing purchase events. Solutions: 1. Verify that your Shopify theme has the Google tag installed and e-commerce events are configured. 2. Use GA4's DebugView or Realtime report to confirm purchase events are being received. 3. If you use a Shopify app for GA4 tracking (e.g., Google & YouTube channel), ensure it is configured correctly. Need help? Contact us at support@datadrew.io. Related articles - Connecting your GA4 property - Troubleshooting integration connection issues - GA4: property not listed when connecting - Integration disconnected — how to reconnect Need help? If you have questions or run into issues, reach out to us at support@datadrew.io or use the in-app chat. We're happy to help.

Understanding GA4 metrics in Datadrew

Datadrew syncs key website analytics metrics from your Google Analytics 4 property to help you understand how visitors interact with your Shopify store. This article explains what each metric means and why it matters. User and session metrics | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Metric | Definition | Why It Matters | | Users | The number of unique users who visited your website during the selected period. | Your core audience size. Track this alongside orders to understand your store's conversion rate. | | New Users | Users who visited your website for the first time during the selected period. | Indicates how well your marketing is attracting fresh traffic. Compare with returning users to assess customer retention. | | Sessions | The total number of sessions (visits) to your website. A single user can have multiple sessions. | Measures total traffic volume. Sessions can be higher than users if visitors return multiple times. | | Engaged Sessions | Sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or had 2+ page views. | A more meaningful quality metric than raw sessions. Filters out accidental visits and bounces. | | Bounce Rate | The percentage of sessions that were NOT engaged sessions. In GA4, Bounce Rate = 1 - Engagement Rate. | A high bounce rate may indicate poor landing page experience, slow load times, or mismatched ad targeting. | | Engagement Time | The average duration (in seconds) that users actively engaged with your website. | Longer engagement time typically correlates with higher purchase intent. Use this to evaluate content and page quality. | E-commerce and conversion metrics | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Metric | Definition | Why It Matters | | Conversions | The total number of conversion events tracked by your GA4 property (as configured in your GA4 settings). | Depends on how you have configured conversions in GA4. May include purchases, sign-ups, or other key actions. | | Revenue | Total e-commerce revenue reported by GA4, based on purchase events with a value parameter. | GA4 revenue may differ from Shopify revenue due to tracking method differences, ad blockers, and attribution. Use Shopify as your source of truth for actual revenue. | | Cart Adds (Add to Cart) | The number of add_to_cart events fired on your store. | A key upper-funnel metric. Track the ratio of cart adds to purchases to identify checkout drop-off. | | Purchases | The number of purchase events tracked by GA4. | Compare GA4 purchases with Shopify orders to understand tracking coverage. GA4 may undercount due to ad blockers or consent management. | Traffic source dimensions In addition to the metrics above, Datadrew syncs traffic breakdowns by: - Source / Medium -- Where your traffic comes from (e.g., google/organic, facebook/cpc, direct/none, email/newsletter). - Device category -- Desktop, mobile, or tablet. - Browser and OS -- Which browsers and operating systems your visitors use. These dimensions help you understand which channels drive the most valuable traffic to your store. Active user metrics Datadrew also tracks active user counts at three time windows: - Daily Active Users (DAU) -- Unique users per day. - Weekly Active Users (WAU) -- Unique users over a rolling 7-day window. - Monthly Active Users (MAU) -- Unique users over a rolling 28-day window. These are useful for understanding user engagement trends and stickiness of your store. Where these metrics appear - Datadrew dashboards -- GA4 website metrics are integrated into your analytics views. - Drew AI -- Ask questions like "What is my bounce rate this month?" or "Which traffic source drives the most sessions?" Drew AI can also pull live GA4 data for real-time answers. GA4 vs. Shopify data GA4 and Shopify measure revenue and orders differently. GA4 relies on client-side JavaScript tracking (the Google tag), which can be blocked by ad blockers or consent banners. Shopify records orders server-side and is always complete. Use GA4 data for traffic analysis and channel attribution, and Shopify data as your source of truth for revenue and orders. Need help? Contact us at support@datadrew.io. Related articles - Connecting your GA4 property - Website Traffic (Google Analytics) dashboard - Why do my numbers differ from Shopify/Facebook/Google? - Troubleshooting GA4 connection issues Need help? If you have questions or run into issues, reach out to us at support@datadrew.io or use the in-app chat. We're happy to help.

Connecting your GA4 property

Connecting your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property to Datadrew lets you combine website traffic data with your Shopify and advertising metrics. This guide walks you through the connection process. Prerequisites - A Google account with at least Viewer role on the GA4 property you want to connect. - An active Datadrew account with your Shopify store already connected. - A GA4 property (not Universal Analytics). Datadrew supports GA4 only. - Pop-ups enabled in your browser. Step-by-step connection 1. In Datadrew, go to Settings > Integrations. 2. Find the Google Analytics card and click Connect. 3. A Google sign-in window will open. Sign in with the Google account that has access to your GA4 property. 4. Google will ask you to grant Datadrew read-only access to your Google Analytics data. Click Allow. 5. After authorization, you will be redirected back to Datadrew. 6. Datadrew will display a list of all GA4 properties accessible with your credentials, organized by Google Analytics account. Each property shows its display name and property ID. 7. Select the GA4 property that corresponds to your Shopify store and click Confirm. What data syncs Datadrew syncs the following reports from your GA4 property: - Website overview -- Daily metrics including sessions, users, new users, engaged sessions, bounce rate, and engagement time. - Daily, weekly, and 4-weekly active users -- Active user counts at different time windows for trend analysis. - Traffic sources -- Sessions broken down by source and medium (e.g., google/organic, facebook/cpc, direct/none). - Traffic acquisition -- Session-level source/medium report for detailed channel analysis. - Devices -- Sessions broken down by device category, operating system, and browser. - Hourly metrics -- Custom hourly report with sessions, add-to-carts, checkouts, purchases, and conversions by hour of day. What to expect after connecting - Initial sync typically takes 10 to 30 minutes. - GA4 data will appear in your Datadrew dashboards and be available to Drew AI for natural language queries. - Ongoing syncs happen daily (Starter plan) or hourly (Pro plan). - Datadrew syncs data incrementally, so only new or updated date records are fetched on each sync. Choosing the right property If you have multiple GA4 properties (e.g., for different websites or environments), make sure to select the one that tracks your Shopify store. You can verify this by checking the property's web data stream URL in your GA4 admin settings. Disconnecting and reconnecting You can disconnect your GA4 integration at any time from Settings > Integrations. Disconnected integrations can be reconnected by clicking Connect again and completing the authorization flow. Your historical data is preserved. Need help? Contact us at support@datadrew.io. Related articles - How to connect Google Analytics 4 - Understanding GA4 metrics in Datadrew - Troubleshooting GA4 connection issues - Website Traffic (Google Analytics) dashboard Need help? If you have questions or run into issues, reach out to us at support@datadrew.io or use the in-app chat. We're happy to help.