ga_mp_send: Make a Measurement Protocol v2 request

Description

Create a server side call to Google Analytics 4 via its Measurement Protocol

Use ga_mp_connection to set up the Measurement Protocol connections to pass to ga_mp_send. If using Google Tag Manager Server-Side, you can also set up a custom endpoint.

Usage

ga_mp_send(
  events,
  client_id,
  connection,
  user_id = NULL,
  debug_call = FALSE,
  timestamp_micros = NULL,
  user_properties = NULL,
  non_personalized_ads = TRUE
)
ga_mp_connection(
  measurement_id,
  api_secret = Sys.getenv("MP_SECRET"),
  endpoint = NULL,
  preview_header = NULL
)

Value

TRUE if successful, if debug_call=TRUE then validation messages if not a valid hit.

Arguments

events: The events to send
client_id: The client_id to associate with the event
connection: The connection details created by ga_mp_connection
user_id: Optional. Unique id for the user
debug_call: Send hits to the Google debug endpoint to validate hits.
timestamp_micros: Optional. A Unix timestamp (in microseconds) for the time to associate with the event.
user_properties: Optional. The user properties for the measurement sent in as a named list.
non_personalized_ads: Optional. Set to true to indicate these events should not be used for personalized ads.
measurement_id: The measurement ID associated with a stream
api_secret: The secret generated in the GA4 UI - by default will look for environment arg MP_SECRET
endpoint: If NULL will use Google default, otherwise set to the URL of your Measurement Protocol custom endpoint
preview_header: Only needed for custom endpoints. The X-Gtm-Server-Preview HTTP Header found in your GTM debugger

Details

Create an API secret via Admin > Data Streams > choose your stream > Measurement Protocol > Create

To see event parameters, create custom fields in your GA4 account first, to see them in your reports 24hrs after you send them in with this function via Custom definitions > Create custom dimensions - dimension name will be how it looks like in the reports, event parameter will be the parameter you have sent in with the event.

user_id can be used for cross-platform analysis

timestamp_micros should only be set to record events that happened in the past. This value can be overridden via user_property or event timestamps. Events can be backdated up to 48 hours. Note microseconds, not milliseconds.

user_properties - describe segments of your user base, such as language preference or geographic location. See User properties

Ensure you also have user permission as specified in the feature policy

Invalid events are silently rejected with a 204 response, so use debug_call=TRUE to validate your events first.

Examples

Run this code

# preferably set this in .Renviron
Sys.setenv(MP_SECRET="MY_SECRET")

# your GA4 settings
my_measurement_id <- "G-1234"

my_connection <- ga_mp_connection(my_measurement_id)

a_client_id <- 123.456
event <- ga_mp_event("an_event")

if (FALSE) {
#' ga_mp_send(event, a_client_id, my_connection, debug_call = TRUE)

# multiple events at same time in a batch
another <- ga_mp_event("another_event")

ga_mp_send(list(event, another), 
           a_client_id, 
           my_connection,
           debug_call = TRUE)
           
# you can see sent events in the real-time reports
my_property_id <- 206670707
ga_data(my_property_id, 
        dimensions = "eventName", 
        metrics = "eventCount", 
        dim_filters = ga_data_filter(
           eventName == c("an_event","another_event")),
        realtime = TRUE)

}

# custom GTM server side endpoint
my_custom_connection <- ga_mp_connection(
   my_measurement_id,
   endpoint = "https://gtm.example.com",
   preview_header = "ZW52LTV8OWdPOExNWFkYjA0Njk4NmQ="
 )