Connect to Google Analytics

Google Analytics gives you insights into how visitors find and use your website, app, or internet-connected device. The Google Analytics connector supports both Google Analytics 4 properties and Universal Analytics views.

Universal Analytics has gone away

Caution: Google Analytics 4 is our next-generation measurement solution, and it has replaced Universal Analytics. Starting on July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing new data, and all customers will lose access to the Universal Analytics interface and API starting on July 1, 2024. To maintain your website measurement, you'll need a Google Analytics 4 property. If you haven't already, make the switch to Google Analytics 4.

How to connect to Google Analytics 4

You must have at least Read & Analyze permission to the Google Analytics 4 property or Universal Analytics view to which you connect.

1. Sign in to Looker Studio.
2. On the Looker Studio home page, in the top left, click Create, and then select Data Source.
3. Select the Analytics connector.
4. If prompted to grant Looker Studio access to your account, click AUTHORIZE.
5. Select an account.
6. Select a property.
7. To connect to Universal Analytics ("Web"), select a view.
8. In the upper right, click CONNECT.
   1. The data source fields panel appears.
   2. The data source is now connected to your data set.

Configure the data source

The data source fields panel is where you configure the data source by renaming fields and adding descriptions, adding calculated fields, and changing data types and aggregations. Learn more about working with data source fields.

Control who sees the data

At the top of the fields panel, you can change the data credentials. Credentials control who can see the data that this data source provides.

OWNER'S CREDENTIALS let other people view or create reports that use this data without requiring them to have their own access to the dataset.

VIEWER'S CREDENTIALS, on the other hand, require each user of the data source to provide their own credentials to access the dataset.

SERVICE ACCOUNT CREDENTIALS rely on a special type of Google Account that represents a non-human user that can authenticate and be authorized to access data.

Learn more about data credentials.

Create a new report from the data source

To create a new report from the data source, follow these steps:

1. In the upper right, click CREATE REPORT. The report editor appears.
2. Click ADD TO REPORT.
   1. This action adds the data source to the report.
   2. You can now create charts and controls that get their data from this data source.

New to Looker Studio?

Take the Create a report tutorial.

Tip: Want to use this data source with different accounts? Try adding a data control.

The data control gives report viewers a way to select the account that provides the data they want to see in a report. This can eliminate the need to create separate reports and data sources for your various accounts. Learn more about data controls.

What data is available from Google Analytics?

You can use Looker Studio to visualize any of the fields available in the Google Analytics Data API (GA4), including any custom fields defined for the property.

Note : Looker Studio will match the data in Google Analytics reporting, but not explorations. Learn more about data differences between reports and explorations in Google Analytics.

Limits of the Google Analytics connector

Looker Studio reports that connect to Google Analytics 4 data are subject to Google Analytics Data API (GA4) quotas. Reports that exceed these quotas may display an error messages. Learn more.

Google Analytics 4 segments and comparisons are not available using the Google Analytics connector.

When a table is filtered by a calculated field, the Google Analytics connector doesn't support the display of totals in the table's Summary row, if present. When a table is the target of a filter of any type, and the filter condition is based on a calculated field, a custom group, or a bin, the grand total displays null.

Related resources

• Create a data source
• User permissions in Google Analytics
• Dimensions & Metrics Explorer
• Measure Looker Studio report usage with Google Analytics