Tracking your tvScientific campaigns in Google Analytics is simple with our GA4 integration. tvScientific utilizes the GA4 Measurement Protocol API to enrich website visits exposed to CTV so you can measure the impact of your tvScientific campaigns in Google Analytics. No complicated setup is required; all you have to do is place the tvScientific tracking pixel on your website.
Please note: If GA4 and tvScientific tracking is set up correctly, you can expect to see a 0 to 80% match rate between the 2 platforms, but never 100% match due to the fundamental differences between the attribution models used by tvScientific and GA4 matching, plus technical complexities such as cookie consent. See Discrepancies section for more information.
Who is GA4 integration for?
Advertisers with an existing GA4 account and a data stream set up for data collection (such as adding the Google tag on your web pages). See How to set up GA4.
How does tvScientifics integration with GA4 Work?
tvScientific’s integration into GA4 utilizes the GA4 Measurement Protocol API to provide you with comprehensive cross-device performance data within your GA4 property:
A user is exposed to a tvScientific ad.
The user then visits your website.
If the website visit is credited to your tvScientific campaign (as per the attribution rules defined in your advertising account), we send the website visit data with tvScientific event parameters to GA4 via the GA Measurement Protocol API.
GA4 subsequently interprets the data based on its configuration, enabling you to observe users, sessions, and events originating from your tvScientific campaigns.
What data does tvScientific send to GA4?
tvScientific uses the Measurement Protocol to enhance the events you've previously collected via gtag or Google Tag Manager. tvScientific does not start a new session but rather augments the users' existing session by reporting the campaign details via a page view event when the event is attributed to tvScientific. We include the following event parameters:
Key | Value | Description |
campaign_medium | CTV | The method for acquiring users to your website or application |
campaign_source | tvScientific | A representation of the publisher or inventory source from which traffic originated. |
campaign_name | tvScientific | The name used to identify a specific promotion or strategic campaign. |
ad_source | tvScientific | The source network that served an advertisement. |
client_id | Unique value | Analytics generates for a browser when a user visits your website. |
session_id | Unique value | Session ID is a timestamp of when a session began |
timestamp | Unique value | A Unix timestamp (in microseconds) for the time to associate with the event. |
event | page_view | Type of event |
Since tvScientific only sends visit data to GA4 through the Measurement Protocol API, all recorded events are based on your GA4 event and attribution settings.
How to set up the tvScientific Integration with GA4.
In your tvScientific ad account:
Navigate to the tracking tab and click Create Tracking Code.
Select your tracking events and click I am using Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Enter your GA4 Measurement ID and GA4 API Secret and click save.
To find the measurement ID, follow these steps:
To find the measurement ID, follow these steps:
In Admin, under Data Collection and Modification, click Data Streams.
Select the Web tab.
Click the web data stream.
Find the measurement ID in the first row of the stream details.
To generate your Measurement Protocol API Secret, follow these steps:
To generate your Measurement Protocol API Secret, follow these steps:
In Admin, under Data Collection and Modification, click Data Streams.
Select the Web tab.
Click the web data stream.
Click Measurement Protocol API Secrets.
Create a new secret. Just so you know, acknowledgment is required before creating an API secret.
Install your tracking pixels:
Copy your tracking pixels and install them directly on your website or using a tag manager.
In your Google Analytics (GA4) account:
Create a custom definition
In Admin, under Data display, click Custom Definitions.
Select the Custom Dimensions tab.
Click Create Custom Dimensions and enter the following:
Ad Source for the Dimension name
Event for the Scope
Ad Source for the Description
ad_source for the Event parameter
How do I view reporting in GA4?
Traffic Acquisition Report
The traffic acquisition report will show your website's new and returning users driven by your tvScientific campaigns.
From the left menu, select Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.
In the dropdown menu, select to show the Session source / medium instead of the default "Session Default Channel Group" dimension categorization.
tvScientific/CTV provides granular insight into the visit and event volume driven by the tvScientific campaigns.
To view events where GA4 did not award tvScientific attribution credit but the user was exposed to a tvScientific ad, you can filter by the Ad Source dimension.
In the Traffic Acquisition report, click the + icon next to session source / medium.
Under custom, select Ad Source. If you do not see Ad Source, you need to add it as a custom definition to view this dimension in reporting.
Events Report
This report shows how many events were driven by your tvScientific campaigns.
From the left menu, select Reports > Engagement> Events.
Click Add filter and select Session source in the dimension dropdown and exactly matches in the Match Type dropdown and enter tvScientific.
Discrepancies
Attribution:
Due to the fundamental differences between the attribution models used by tvScientific and GA4 (Google Analytics 4), discrepancies in reporting are inevitable. tvScientific’s deterministic attribution model uses household identifiers to match a user’s outcome to a CTV impression. GA4 uses a “data-driven” attribution model that analyzes data to create conversion rate models excluding direct visits from receiving attribution credit. tvScientific reports page visits from exposed to CTV ads users to GA4 but how data is displayed in your Google Analytics account is solely based on your GA4 configuration and attribution settings. GA4 page visit is not defined the same way the tvScientific page visit is defined so the session will not match.
Traffic source parameters such as source and medium are tied to the first session event within a set attribution window meaning if GA4 already attributed the user’s first session to a different channel e.g. paid search, then all events after will be attributed to paid search.
Consent:
GA4 uses first-party cookies to capture data about web visitors. If a user doesn’t accept cookies or has JavaScript disabled, then GA4 can’t track their touchpoints. Unlike GA4, tvScientific doesn’t require cookies to track page visits and outcomes meaning tvScientific will capture more page visits than GA4.