Question
Why is data not showing in GA4 via the Google Analytics 4 Cloud destination?
Product
Twilio Segment
Answer
Ensure that at least one mapping has been configured and enabled in the destination mappings for an event that you would like to reach Google. Without any mappings enabled to trigger on an event that has been ingested by the connected source, the destination will not send events downstream.
Google also enforces certain limitations that may prevent events from appearing in GA4. Some of the most common limitations include:
Attribution reporting
Google doesn’t currently support passing certain reserved fields to the Google Analytics 4 Measurement Protocol API. This includes attribution data, like UTM parameters. If you rely on attribution reporting, you can either send this data as custom dimensions or implement a parallel client-side integration to collect this data with gtag.js (web) or Firebase (mobile).
Reserved names
Google reserves certain event names, parameters, and user properties. Google silently drops any events that include these reserved names. Google doesn’t accept events in the following conditions:
- event or user property names have spaces in them
- fields with
nullvalues - fields or events with reserved names
- fields with a number as the key
- fields or events with a dash (-) character in the name
- property names with capital letters
Data takes a long time to appear in Google’s reports
Google may take 24-48 hours to process data sent to Google Analytics. As a result, the Google Analytics user interface may not reflect the most current data. The Google Analytics Realtime report displays activity on your site as it happens.
Events with timestamps older than 72 hours are not showing on Google’s end
Because Google’s Measurement Protocol API only accepts events that are backdated by up to 72 hours, GA4 can’t accept events older than 72 hours.
Additional Information
For more details, check out our resources here.