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Give us read-only access to Google Analytics

Google Analytics 4 is Google’s count of visits, and what people do on the site.

Why we need it

We need those numbers to say whether visits are being counted, and where people leave. That goes in the tracking section of a Teardown+.

The address to add

Add this address, and only this address. It’s the one we use to read. It isn’t a person, and it has no inbox.

reader@soberread.iam.gserviceaccount.com

It ends in gserviceaccount.com. That’s the right address. Copy it. Typing it is easy to get wrong.

We can’t change anything

Make us a Viewer. A Viewer can open the reports. A Viewer can’t change the property, the settings, or the site. We can’t edit anything with this access.

How to add us

  1. Sign in to Google Analytics with the Google account that manages the site.
  2. Select the property for the site we’re reading. In Analytics, a property is that site’s reports. The name should be that site.
  3. Open Admin.
  4. Under Property, open Property access management. You don’t need to change access for the whole account. Access on the property is enough.
  5. Choose Add users.
  6. Paste the address above.
  7. Set the role to Viewer.
  8. If you see a tick for emailing the new user, leave it off. This address has no inbox, so a message can’t be delivered.
  9. Add the user.

How to remove us after we deliver

When the report is in your inbox, take the address off.

  1. Open the same property, then Admin, then Property access management.
  2. Find the address.
  3. Open the menu on that row and remove the access.

You can remove it sooner if you want. We can’t remove it ourselves.

If something goes wrong

The email wasn’t found

Google sometimes says this address wasn’t found, or that it isn’t a Google account. That happens because the address isn’t a normal inbox. Paste the whole address, with no space before or after it. Don’t pick a different address from a list of suggestions. If you see a tick for emailing the new user, leave it off, then add the user again. If the message stays, wait a minute and use the same steps again. If it still fails, email hello@soberread.com. Don’t add a different address to get past the message.

The wrong property

The property name should be the site you asked us to read. A test property, an old site, or another product won’t show us the right numbers. Access on that property is enough. You don’t need to add us to every property, or to the whole Analytics account.

Viewer is enough

Viewer is the role we need. Administrator, Editor, Marketer and Analyst can change the property. Leave those off.

If Google Analytics isn’t set up

You don’t need to create it for us. We still write the Teardown. If we can’t read the tracking, you choose a refund of the £30 difference, or a free follow-up later. The Teardown+ page sets out that choice.

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