Ask HN: Is there a market for a better Google Analytics client?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32601677

by caoxhua • 4 years ago

2 3 4 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I use Google Analytics, mostly to see the number of users per day, which is good. I feel it's difficult to use for exploring other views, thought about a new client with a list of cards (templates), is there an existing GA client like this? is there a market for this type of client if building one?

ggm2• 4 years ago

It is impossible to combine data from different GA/UA segments into one report. You are told by google to instead use one segment and sub-specify. It means that if you opened the door to having multiple segments, (eg your organisational structure led you there) its a one-way hole.

A tool which can combine across different segments would be useful. I do it in Python outside GA.

The python3 bindings are pretty good. I would imagine you could write a data explorer in Electron, and allow it to combine the elements deep in the JSON to derive query statements which applied in the right way, make combined datasets

It's also impossible to combine segments into one GA "dashboard" -So there's a problem there for viewing status of all your trackers, cross-product.

caoxhua• 4 years ago

"I do it in Python outside GA." - do you mean you export different segments data from GA and they use Python to glue them for combined/join view?

ggm2• 4 years ago

Yes. Thats probably what I mean.

I mean I brute force one python execution state as repeated segment specific fetches to get the segment specific JSON which equates to users, new users, devices, and combine them into one datastructure which can be dumped as .CSV to feed cross-segment charting in excel.

I would make this happen inside python but I work with excel freaks, its kinder not to assume I know the charts they want.

  external_combined_datastruct={}

  for segment in ['GAXXXXXXX', 'GAYYYYYYYY', 'UAZZZZZZZ'] :
    with open_segment_connection_in_GA(segment) as this_seg:
      for i in get_segment_data(this_seg):
        data = jason.dumps(i.thedata)
        for j in data['some']['thing']:
             # add to the external combined datastruct

  # now.. print the external combined datastruct

Ask HN: Is there a market for a better Google Analytics client?

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