My Step-By-Step Blueprint For Using Measurement Protocol in GA4 (Google Analytics 4)

Google Analytics 4 Measurement Protocol (112 Pages)

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Last Updated: September 5, 2023

This article is related to measurement protocol in Google Analytics.

If you are brand new to measurement protocol, then read this article first: Understanding Google Analytics measurement protocol.

In this article, I will show you how to send payload data both via GET and POST methods and how to send multiple hits in a single protocol request.

Creating a measurement protocol request

The GA measurement protocol hit builder allows you to send payload data only via the POST method. It won’t let you send payload data via the GET method.

It does not allow you to send multiple hits in a single protocol request. And above all, it does not provide you with the actual code for creating the protocol request.

You can overcome these limitations, by using the Postman Chrome extension.

Through the Postman extension, you can:

• Send payload data both via GET and POST method.
• Send multiple hits in a single protocol request.
• Create the actual code, for creating the measurement protocol request.

In order to understand the usage of this tool, let us try to achieve, the following objectives:

1. Send single event hit in protocol request using the GET method
2. Send single event hit in protocol request using the POST method
3. Send multiple event hits in the protocol request using the POST method.

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#1 Sending single event hit in protocol request using the GET method

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Install the postman chrome extension and then launch it.

Step-2: Append the transport https://www.google-analytics.com/collect? with your payload data. For example:

If your payload data is:

v=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-10&ea=play&el=spider%2520man1&ev=100

Then after appending it with the transport: https://www.google-analytics.com/collect? , it will look like the one below:

https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-10&ea=play&el=spider%2520man1&ev=100

Step-3: Select GET method from the drop-down menu and then copy-paste your transport and payload data into the text box (next to the drop-down menu) as shown below:

Step-4: Click on the Send button (shown above).

Step-5: Navigate to Real Time > Events report in Google Analytics to see the event data:

Step-6: Click on the ‘Generate Code’ link in postman tool:

Step-7: Select the programming language, you want to use for creating the measurement protocol request:

Through Postman, you can generate code in several languages including Go, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.

For example, following is the code for generating measurement protocol request in JQuery:

var settings = {
  "async": true,
  "crossDomain": true,
  "url": "https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-10&ea=play&el=spider%252520man1&ev=100",
  "method": "GET",
  "headers": {
    "cache-control": "no-cache",
    "postman-token": "cc64366c-34a2-3a5d-656c-a0243cee3881"
  }
}

$.ajax(settings).done(function (response) {
  console.log(response);
});

Step-8: Copy this code and send it to your web developer for implementation.

That’s how you can send single event hit in measurement protocol request using the GET method

My Step-By-Step Blueprint For Using Measurement Protocol in GA4 (Google Analytics 4)

Google Analytics 4 Measurement Protocol (112 Pages)

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#2 Sending single event hit in measurement protocol request using the POST method

To send an event hit via POST method, just select POST from the drop-down menu of postman tool:

var settings = {
  "async": true,
  "crossDomain": true,
  "url": "https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-10&ea=play&el=spider%252520man1&ev=100",
  "method": "POST",
  "headers": {
    "cache-control": "no-cache",
    "postman-token": "d935a8a7-41dd-15f4-ddb0-17c910c96819"
  }
}

$.ajax(settings).done(function (response) {
  console.log(response);
});

The rest of the process, of sending the event hit data is the same as in the case of GET method.

#3 Sending multiple event hits in the measurement protocol request using the POST method.

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Select POST from the drop-down menu of the Postman tool:

Note: Do not use the GET method for sending multiple hits in a single protocol request. It won’t work.

Step-2: Enter the transport https://www.google-analytics.com/batch? in the text box, next to the drop-down menu, as shown below:

Step-3: Click on the ‘Body’ link (shown above) and then the ‘raw’ button (shown below), and then enter your payload for each hit, each payload on its own line:

Step-4: Click on the Send button (shown above).

Step-5: Navigate to Real Time > Events report in Google Analytics to see the event data. You will see three event hits at the same time in real-time reports:

Step-6: Click on the ‘Generate Code’ link in the Postman tool, select the programming language, you want to use for creating a measurement protocol request, copy this code and send it to your web developer for implementation.

For example, following is the code for generating multiple hits, in a single measurement protocol request using JQuery:

var settings = {
  "async": true,
  "crossDomain": true,
  "url": "https://www.google-analytics.com/batch",
  "method": "POST",
  "headers": {
    "cache-control": "no-cache",
    "postman-token": "0a0530d3-b7de-f031-0911-d28c10c28534"
  },
  "data": "v=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-1&ea=play&el=spider%2520man1&ev=100\r\nv=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-2&ea=play&el=spider%2520man2&ev=100\r\nv=1&t=event&tid=UA-1500844-18&cid=98880ed4-c224-4b3c-b2e2-35a491373751&ec=videos-3&ea=play&el=spider%2520man3&ev=100\r\n"
}

$.ajax(settings).done(function (response) {
  console.log(response);
});

That’s how you can send multiple hits in a single measurement protocol request using the POST method.

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