[Liam]

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve encountered while trying to create GA4 tags through the Google Tag Manager REST APIs. It’s unclear why you’re receiving errors suggesting the vendorTemplate parameter is causing issues; especially when you’re noting it isn’t specified as a necessary attribute in the official API documentation. This suggests there might be a discrepancy between the API’s actual requirements and its outlined documentation.

That being said, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a newer version of Google Analytics and Google might not yet have fully integrated its APIs (like the Tag API) to seamlessly support GA4. While the manual approach might seem cumbersome, it might be the most reliable way to make the transition at this point in time. However, I’d recommend reaching out to Google Support directly or posting this question on a Google Developer forum for a more definite answer from officials or fellow developers who might’ve faced and solved this exact issue.

[Liam]

The issue you’re experiencing could be due to several factors. One common reason is the delay between when data is collected and when it appears in reports in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This processing latency might make data appear in BigQuery before it shows up in GA4. The delay can take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that filters in GA4 do not apply retrospectively. This means if you’ve recently applied a new filter, it won’t affect the historical data, only the new data moving forward. Lastly, there might be differences in how data is calculated between BigQuery and GA4 causing the discrepancy. If none of these seem to explain the issue, it could be beneficial to consult with a Google Analytics specialist or a technical support expert.

[Liam]

Yes, you can associate labels with phone numbers in your GA4 exploration with the help of Google Tag Manager (GTM). Here’s a snapshot of how you might do it:

1. First, locate the tag in GTM that triggers when people click on phone numbers.
2. Next, add a custom event property to this tag that will hold the descriptive label for the phone number.
3. You can use custom JavaScript (CJS), a look up table (LUT), or a regex look up table to map phone numbers to their corresponding descriptions, which will be the value for the custom event property you created.

After setting this up in GTM, go over to Google Analytics and register that custom event property as a custom dimension. Voila, you’re done!

One side note: You could even replace the phone number in the link URL dimension in GTM with a variable that produces the descriptive labels, but tread carefully. It’s usually not a good idea to tweak default dimensions unless you really know what you’re doing.

Also, it’s generally better to conduct your data modification tasks in one place, and GTM is more suited for this compared to GA4, which has limited capabilities for modifying event properties.

[Liam]

Sure, you’re heading in the right direction. The process is fairly straightforward; it’s just a matter of waiting. Custom dimensions can take up to 48 hours to update in Google Analytics 4. So don’t worry, even if you see a value of (not set) for your custom dimension initially, it should start showing up after a couple of days. This is perfectly normal. For a bit more detail, feel free to check out their [official documentation](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10075209?hl=en). Hang tight, you’ve got this!

[Liam]

I get what you’re saying, it might be frustrating to not see the ‘location’ dimension in the Real Time metrics of Google Analytics 4 API. You’re right, it’s not there as of now. But, I believe this is because the team is still working on the new GA4 API – it’s in beta and they’re adding on it constantly. As for the latitude and longitude data, the trick is yet to be found.

And about adding these features before shutting down Universal Analytics, Google’s been tight-lipped about it. We’ll just have to hang tight and see what features they roll out next. I’m just as excited as you to see how it’ll evolve.