How to Control How Google Analytics Uses Your Data

Whether you’re new to Google Analytics, or you just want to improve your data and make sure that you’re using it to its fullest potential, there are a few things you can do to control how it uses your data. You can also create a Report in Google Analytics and make sure that your data is being shared in a way that is appropriate for your business. 

Access levels

Getting the most out of Google Analytics requires a bit of control over your data. This is a process that involves setting up your account, adding users, and managing their permissions. With the right set of roles and permissions, your users will have access to the data they need to get the job done. 

Google Analytics provides several controls for businesses. One of these is the ability to control data stored in reporting views. This includes the ability to add or remove users, create segments, and create and delete properties. This functionality allows you to customize your user’s access so they are only granted the data that they need to do their job. 

Google Analytics also provides the ability to grant permissions at varying levels. This means that you can control who can access different views of your data, including the account level. 

The highest level of access is the Manage Users role, which gives the user the ability to control who can access different views of your account. While this is a great feature, you should only grant it to trusted users. 

You can also create a user group, which is a great way to assign different permissions to a single user. To do this, you’ll need to set up your Organization and Google Marketing Platform account first. Once that’s complete, you’ll be able to access the Access Management menu. 

You’ll also want to look into the View Permissions section, which will give you a comprehensive look at the user’s permissions. This section will tell you which are the most useful and which are the niftiest. This is a great way to determine which is the most important to you. 

Data sharing settings

Getting your hands on the right data is an essential part of any analytics strategy. Google Analytics provides a number of features to help you manage your data. For example, you can opt to have your data wiped out from its servers or have it collected anonymously. Lastly, you can opt to customize the ads on your site. 

The first step in controlling how Google Analytics uses your data is to log into your account and choose your site. Then, you will need to accept the stipulations of your chosen Terms of Service. You can also request to have your data removed from Analytics servers. For instance, if you have opted to have your data collected

anonymously, you won’t be able to retrieve it from the archives. However, you can request to have it shared with Google support teams. 

After you have logged into your Google Analytics account, you’ll see the Accounts tab on the right. Click the + button beside the site name to expand the + sign. At this point, you’ll see a tracking code snippet. You can also opt to have your data collected anonymously by clicking the “opt-out” link. 

You can also control the amount of data collected by choosing a retention period. If you choose the default settings, you’ll only be able to retrieve two months’ worth of data. However, you can opt for a longer retention period to facilitate a more in-depth analysis of your data. The retention time varies based on your account type, and you can specify a date range for your data to be purged. 

You may also want to check out Google Signals, a new feature in the Google Analytics platform that allows you to personalize ads based on your audience’s behavior. Using this feature, you can have personalized ads that appear in your browser and across different devices. 

Anonymization

Using Google Analytics to track individual visitor activities on a website is an essential part of online business success. However, GDPR requires organizations to review their data collection practices. To help site owners meet this requirement, Google has introduced an IP Anonymisation function. 

In Google Analytics, IP Anonymisation occurs before data is saved and before personal data is stored. This allows site owners to comply with legal regulations, including GDPR. 

The IP Anonymization function was first introduced in 2010 and has been operational ever since. It works by setting the last octet of IPv4 user IP addresses to zeros. This makes it impossible for Google Analytics to assign tracking data to an exact IP address. 

In order to anonymize an IP address, a website owner should change the code used for tracking. The code can be altered in two ways. The first method involves adding a new variable to the GTM tag. The other option involves changing the GTM code. 

Google Analytics does not store IP addresses at the city level. This is the reason why adding IP anonymization has a small impact on the data collected at this level. However, adding IP anonymization does not change the accuracy of country-level geo-location data. 

Google Analytics IP Anonymisation function allows site owners to comply with legal regulations, including GDPR. The function anonymizes visitors’ IPs before sending them to Google Analytics. This helps site owners comply with local data protection authorities. 

The IP Anonymisation function is not enabled by default. However, if you are using Google Analytics, you can easily enable this function. To enable the feature, you must add a new variable to the GTM tag. 

Retention controls

Earlier this month, Google announced new data retention controls for its Analytics platform. These controls will take effect on May 25th, the same day the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect. 

The new controls will allow users to set the amount of time they want Google Analytics to store their data. The new controls also include a reset on the new activity feature. This feature allows users to adjust their data retention period if they find it isn’t working well. 

Google Analytics uses user and event identifiers to track visitors’ activities. These identifiers include advertising identifiers like DoubleClick cookies and Android Advertising IDs. 

When an event occurs on a website, Analytics records the date and time the action occurred. The data is recorded using a piece of code added to the website. It then records data on visits, sessions, bounce rate, and checkout completions. After a retention period, Analytics deletes the data. 

The new data retention controls will allow users to choose a retention period of 26 months, 38 months, or 50 months. Once data has been deleted, it will be unavailable for certain reports. It will also affect some custom reports. However, this will not affect reports that are aggregated. 

The new Google Analytics data retention controls will also allow users to select no automatic expiration. This is helpful if users have data that is older than the default period. It will also be useful for cross-device tracking. 

Users can also adjust their data retention period by logging into GA. The default retention period is 26 months, but this can be changed. Users can also change the data retention period for their User and Event data by logging into GA and going to Property Settings. 

Report creation tool

Despite its powerful features, it can be challenging to understand how Google Analytics uses your data. It can be difficult to decide which features you should use to improve your data analysis. Luckily, Google Analytics offers a variety of controls to help you find and use your data. 

Google Analytics is an online marketing tool that stores and processes data. This data is stored in different data centers, mostly in the US. Some data centers may also be located in other countries. These data centers also keep different types of data, such as traffic sources and behavior. 

Google Analytics has a number of reports that can help you understand your website traffic and audience. These reports show you what type of traffic you are getting, what keywords users search for, and what types of pages they view. These reports also help you determine what types of traffic sources are most effective. 

You can also save reports and have them automatically refreshed weekly or monthly. You can set a date range for the reports, as well as a report structure and segments. In addition, you can customize how data displays in your GA profiles. 

For more advanced analytics, you can also export your raw data. You can also use business intelligence tools to model your data. This will allow you to get the most out of your reports. 

You can share your reports with other teams. The Google Analytics Share tab allows you to share a report with a recipient by typing in their email address. You can also select the day of the week, the day of the month, and the file type.

We would be happy to assist with your analytics and marketing data analysis. Contact GB Digital today.