Alerts in Google Analytics

Long-term monitoring of data quality (referred to as Q&A, quality and assurance) is an important part of the job of a data analyst or data engineer. This usually involves regular checks of various datasets and analytical tool settings. At Archetix, we don’t like monotonous work and all the checkings that are easy to automate. That’s how we created the Smart Alerting System. A Swiss Army knife for anyone interested in data quality on a daily basis.

We take data quality seriously and in addition to monthly warranty checks, we offer the ability to perform checks and trigger alerts on a day, hour, or even real-time level. This approach is especially appreciated by our clients who take data quality seriously. With continuous monitoring, they can truly rely on the data they receive.

Control system in Google Analytics 3

The primary platform for checking data consistency is still GA3 (Universal Analytics). We can use data from reports (Reporting API) and also real-time data (Real-time Reporting API) to create sophisticated alerts (notifications) using basic and advanced mathematical and statistical techniques. Our clients who use our Smart Alerting System on a daily basis are now able to compare one or two queries to the API and perform a check against basic rules such as the value is below a threshold, the value is greater than a threshold, we can perform a moving average calculation or even compare data from different periods.

For demanding clients, we can also connect GA4 and use the same principle. Other platforms can be included in this solution on request.

The output of the intelligent alert system is an email that is sent to any email address in case of a threshold violation. Secondly, it is a log entry within Google Sheets listing all alert checks (violated and not violated) that can later be viewed in Google Data Studio. For demanding and advanced clients, we are able to integrate the alerting system with collaborating Google Cloud Logging / Monitoring modules that can handle any logs of the individual Google Cloud Platform components.

Operation of the alerting solution

The solution runs on Google Cloud and is built using Google Apps Script and Cloud Functions, making it easily scalable. We have an on-demand premium app module that can set up similar data consistency alerts in Big Query (GA4 exports or other data).

An AI module is under development that will be able to detect anomalies more easily and require less human input for checks.

What common cases our clients typically use the tool for: 

  • They check 404 on a daily basis
  • They check incorrect outgoing URLs
  • They check parameters in URLs
  • They check significant fluctuations in specific metrics
  • They check unusual transactions (value 0, etc.)
  • They check significant fluctuations in traffic
  • They check real-time drop in conversions
  • They check the presence of personal data in their collected data
  • They monitor valid values of custom dimensions and events

Are you interested in our alerting system? Would you like to try it out? Let us know.

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