Connecting GA4 to BigQuery

Connecting GA4 to BigQuery

This guide will show you how to link your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property to BigQuery so you can analyze your analytics data with QueryRush.

Prerequisites

• A Google Analytics 4 property
• A Google Cloud Platform account with billing enabled
• Administrator access to both GA4 and GCP

Steps to Connect GA4 to BigQuery

1. Log in to Google Analytics

   Go to analytics.google.com and log in to your account.

2. Select Your GA4 Property

   From the Admin section, make sure you've selected the correct GA4 property you want to link to BigQuery.

3. Navigate to BigQuery Linking

   In the Property column, click on "BigQuery Links" under the "Product Links" section.

4. Create a New Link

   Click the "Link" button to start creating a new BigQuery link.

5. Select Project and Location

   Choose the GCP project where you want the data to be stored, and select a location for your BigQuery dataset.

6. Configure Link Settings

   Choose which data you want to export (usually "All events" is recommended), and select the frequency of data refresh.

7. Enable Linking

   Review your settings and click "Link" to complete the process.

Data Availability

Once the link is created:

• It takes approximately 24 hours for the first data export to appear in BigQuery
• After that, new data will be exported daily according to your settings
• Historical data is not automatically exported - only new data from the time of linking

BigQuery Dataset Structure

GA4 creates a structured dataset in BigQuery with tables for:

• events_YYYYMMDD: Daily tables containing all event data
• events_intraday_YYYYMMDD: Tables with same-day data that hasn't been finalized

Next Steps

After connecting GA4 to BigQuery, you'll need to:

1. Wait for data to populate in BigQuery (at least 24 hours)
2. Connect QueryRush to your BigQuery account (see our guide on Connecting to BigQuery)