Sending pageview data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
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 pageview data via the measurement protocol.
In order to send pageview data via measurement protocol, set the hit type parameter to ‘pageview’. For example:
t=pageview
and then use this parameter along with other required parameters for payload data:
- Measurement Protocol Version (v)
- Tracking ID (tid)
- Client ID (cid)
For example, the following payload data send the ‘pageview’ hit to Google Analytics:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce
Once you have created the payload data, ask your developer to write an application (program) which make the following similar HTTP POST request to the GA server:
User-Agent: user_agent_string
POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?payload_data
For example:
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/30.0.1599.69 Safari/537.36
POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce
This HTTP POST request will send the payload data (which contains the pageview hit) to Google Analytics.
You can also send content data with a pageview hit by using the following additional parameters:
- Document referrer
- Document location
- Document hostname
- Document path
- Document title
#1 Document Referrer
Document referrer is the referral source that sent traffic to your website.
Document referrer is denoted by ‘dr‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URL. For example,
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F
as in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F
Note (1): Here http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F is the encoded version of the URL: http://www.abc.com/
Note (2): All values of the ‘dr’ parameter must be URL encoded before they are sent to the Google Analytics server.
#2 Document location
Document location is the full URL of the page which contains the contents.
Document location is denoted by ‘dl‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URL. For example:
dl= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent
Note: Here http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent is the encoded version of the URL: http://www.example.com/courses/event is
#3 Document hostname
Document hostname is the name of the host where the contents are hosted.
Document hostname is denoted by ‘dh‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a hostname. For example:
dh=example.com
as in
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com
#4 Document path
Document path is denoted by ‘dp‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URI. For example:
dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent
Note: Here %2Fcourses%2Fevent is the encoded version of the document path: /courses/event
#5 Document title
Document title is denoted by ‘dt‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an URL encoded text string. For example:
dt=event%20education%20courses
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent&dt=event%20education%20courses
Note: Here dt=event%20education%20courses is the encoded version of the document title: event education courses.
Other articles on measurement protocol
- Sending campaign data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending event data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending ecommerce data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending social interactions via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Creating and validating measurement protocol requests through postman
- Understanding measurement protocol validation server
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 pageview data via the measurement protocol.
In order to send pageview data via measurement protocol, set the hit type parameter to ‘pageview’. For example:
t=pageview
and then use this parameter along with other required parameters for payload data:
- Measurement Protocol Version (v)
- Tracking ID (tid)
- Client ID (cid)
For example, the following payload data send the ‘pageview’ hit to Google Analytics:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce
Once you have created the payload data, ask your developer to write an application (program) which make the following similar HTTP POST request to the GA server:
User-Agent: user_agent_string
POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?payload_data
For example:
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/30.0.1599.69 Safari/537.36
POST https://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce
This HTTP POST request will send the payload data (which contains the pageview hit) to Google Analytics.
You can also send content data with a pageview hit by using the following additional parameters:
- Document referrer
- Document location
- Document hostname
- Document path
- Document title
#1 Document Referrer
Document referrer is the referral source that sent traffic to your website.
Document referrer is denoted by ‘dr‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URL. For example,
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F
as in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F
Note (1): Here http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F is the encoded version of the URL: http://www.abc.com/
Note (2): All values of the ‘dr’ parameter must be URL encoded before they are sent to the Google Analytics server.
#2 Document location
Document location is the full URL of the page which contains the contents.
Document location is denoted by ‘dl‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URL. For example:
dl= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent
Note: Here http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent is the encoded version of the URL: http://www.example.com/courses/event is
#3 Document hostname
Document hostname is the name of the host where the contents are hosted.
Document hostname is denoted by ‘dh‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be a hostname. For example:
dh=example.com
as in
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com
#4 Document path
Document path is denoted by ‘dp‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an encoded URI. For example:
dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&
dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent
Note: Here %2Fcourses%2Fevent is the encoded version of the document path: /courses/event
#5 Document title
Document title is denoted by ‘dt‘ parameter. The value of this parameter should be an URL encoded text string. For example:
dt=event%20education%20courses
As in:
v=1&t=pageview&tid=UA-1500844-34&cid=d0abe39e-ba31-4d6a-a70e-65e8345a4bce&
dr=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.com%2F&dl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fcourses%2Fevent&
dh=example.com&dp=%2Fcourses%2Fevent&dt=event%20education%20courses
Note: Here dt=event%20education%20courses is the encoded version of the document title: event education courses.
Other articles on measurement protocol
- Sending campaign data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending event data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending ecommerce data via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Sending social interactions via measurement protocol in Google Analytics
- Creating and validating measurement protocol requests through postman
- Understanding measurement protocol validation server
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and BeyondSECOND EDITION OUT NOW!
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
About the Author
Himanshu Sharma
