[Ethan]

Yes, there is a way to import your Google Analytics data into an S3 bucket without using AppFlow. You can accomplish this by writing a script using a programming language such as Python with the Google Analytics and AWS SDKs. The script would essentially use the Google Analytics API to fetch your data and then upload it to your S3 bucket with the AWS SDK. This might require a good understanding of programming, particularly of the language you choose to use. Furthermore, you need to set up authentication and access to both your Google Analytics account and your AWS S3 bucket. Then, you could schedule this script to run periodically to consistently update your data in the S3 bucket.

[Ethan]

Hey! The thing about the Google Analytics 4 BigQuery exporter is that it doesn’t have a backfilling option. This means it won’t automatically pull the historical data beyond the point when you set it up. So right now you’ll only see the data from the last few days because that’s when you connected it.

But, don’t lose hope! There’s a manual way to bring in your past 8 months’ data from GA4 to BigQuery. An article from the site OptimizeSmart breaks down the steps for you. Here’s the [link](https://www.optimizesmart.com/how-to-backfill-ga4-data-in-bigquery/) to it. By following the steps, you should be able to load that historical data. Hope this helps!

[Ethan]

To access audience data from Google Analytics 4 in BigQuery, you must first ensure your Google Analytics 4 property is linked to BigQuery. The data will then be exported on an ongoing basis from Google Analytics to your BigQuery dataset. Audience data, however, may not directly be available in BigQuery. Instead, you would use the user_properties object field, which contains user-level properties set by an analytics event. But keep in mind, this requires proper audience definitions in GA4 via event parameters or user properties(data collected might differ). After structuring the data in BigQuery, you can connect your BigQuery project with Looker. In Looker, you’d need to build a LookML model & view using the field data of your BigQuery project. Then, you can apply it as a filter to create the dashboard or report you need in Looker Studio. Please remember that complex queries in BigQuery can cost you as it follows a pricing model.

[Ethan]

Upgrading to the paid version will eliminate the 60 day limit, allowing you to retain data for as long as you need. However, past GA4 data might not be available if it wasn’t previously linked to BigQuery, since GA4 data is not retroactively populated into BigQuery once the link is established. You can start collecting data from the day you link GA4 to BigQuery moving forward.