-
What data implications arise from using Session ID as a User Property in the GA4 configuration tag?
Hey, I’ve got this user-defined variable in GTM that takes the GA Session ID from the goodies – I mean, cookies. I’m considering adding this as a user property to the GA4 Page View/Configuration tag, then register it as a user-level dimension in GA4 (since these folks haven’t got session-scope just yet). So, what happens if I treat this session ID both as a user property and dimension? I mean, is it going to mess up my data collection or what?
Just FYI, I’m doing all this fancy stuff to make sure the Session ID can play nicely with the API in the Measurement Protocol playground. Any thoughts or advice?
-
2 Replies
-
No worries, your plan on using the Session ID as both a user property and dimension shouldn’t mess up your data collection at all. In fact, it’s a pretty smart move especially considering GA4’s lack of session scope right now.
And totally get why you’re doing this – to make sure Session ID can smoothly interact with your API in the Measurement Protocol playground, right? Go for it. Tracking the Session ID as an event parameter is a great idea as this would appropriately scope it to the event.
So, long story short – your fancy stuff sounds spot-on. It sounds like a solid plan. Keep going!
-
In general, it sounds like you’re trying to send a GA Session ID as a user property and also register it as a user-level dimension within GA4. GA has its own way of managing sessions, so injecting your own session ID might cause some discrepancies or confusion.
If you treat the session ID both as a user property and dimension, you wont necessarily mess up your data collection, but it may add complexity in understanding the information and you may retrieve some non-intuitive outcomes.
However, sending this session ID as a user property to GA4 could be useful for cross-referencing with data collected outside of GA, it won’t interact with GA’s already established measures of users and sessions.
In conclusion, while there doesn’t seem to be a data collection issue, you’ll want to make sure you fully understand how GA handles data in relation to users/sessions to ensure the most accurate and valuable analysis.
Log in to reply.