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Okay, let’s take a step back for a moment. Google Analytics can be a bit tricky, but you’ve got this! First, the cookie domain and referral traffic are not part of the problem here. And don’t worry about GSC, it doesn’t apply to this situation.
Instead, let’s start by checking for any distinct values in the hostname dimension in your GA report. If you aren’t seeing your subdomain hostnames there, it might be a tracking issue.
Here’s a simple way to check: go to the troublesome subdomains and look out for the ‘tid’ value. This is found in the network request to Google’s ‘collect’ endpoint. This ‘tid’ value should match with the ‘tid’ of your main site. If it doesn’t match, this could be our culprit!
But hey, if it does match, don’t fret. Let’s check the ‘dl’ field in the same network request. We want to make sure it’s correctly reflecting the subdomain.
Sometimes, even with all this, things don’t quite go to plan. If that’s the case, I want you to cross-verify your property filters on Google Analytics. It’s possible that your subdomain traffic is being filtered out.
Lastly, if all else fails, it’s screenshot time. Snap a picture of your explorer with the hostname dimension pulled out. Make sure it includes the GA4 event that you believe isn’t being shown.
Remember that even experienced developers can get lost in Google Analytics. Be patient with yourself, troubleshooting takes time!
