Databases
Marketing Analytics

How to load data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data into MySQL within minutes.

TL;DR

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:

  1. set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up MySQL as a destination connector
  3. define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google Analytics is a web service that provides integrated analytical tools and essential statistics to aid companies in understanding data and performing search engine optimization (SEO) to improve marketing. Google Analytics provides a range of free marketing tools that help businesses track their website performance and gather insights from visitors. Analytics’ integration with other Google solutions like Google’s advertising and publishing products promotes a seamless workflow that saves time and increases efficiency and insights.

What is MySQL

MySQL is an SQL (Structured Query Language)-based open-source database management system. An application with many uses, it offers a variety of products, from free MySQL downloads of the most recent iteration to support packages with full service support at the enterprise level. The MySQL platform, while most often used as a web database, also supports e-commerce and data warehousing applications, and more.

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Prerequisites

  1. A Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A MySQL account.
  3. An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and MySQL, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL, it extracts data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) using the source connector, converts it into a format MySQL can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into MySQL via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data for advanced analytics and insights within MySQL, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as a source connector

1. Go to the Google Analytics website and log in to your account.

2. Click on the Admin button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

3. In the Admin section, click on the Account User Management option.

4. Click on the + button to add a new user.

5. Enter the email address associated with your Airbyte account and select the permissions you want to grant.

6. Click on the Add button to save the new user.

7. Go to the Airbyte website and navigate to the Sources page.

8. Click on the Google Analytics source connector.

9. Enter the credentials for your Google Analytics account, including the email address and password associated with the account.

10. Click on the Test button to ensure that the connection is working properly.

11. If the test is successful, click on the Save button to save the credentials and complete the setup process.

12. You can now use the Google Analytics source connector to import data from your Google Analytics account into Airbyte.

Step 2: Set up MySQL as a destination connector

1. First, you need to have a MySQL database set up and running. Ensure that you have the necessary credentials to access the database.
2. Log in to your Airbyte account and navigate to the "Destinations" tab.
3. Click on the "Add Destination" button and select "MySQL" from the list of available connectors.
4. Enter the necessary details such as the host, port, username, password, and database name. Ensure that the details are accurate and match the credentials you have for your MySQL database.
5. Test the connection to ensure that Airbyte can successfully connect to your MySQL database. If the connection is successful, you will receive a confirmation message.
6. Once the connection is established, you can configure the settings for your MySQL destination connector. You can choose to enable or disable certain features such as SSL encryption, bulk loading, and more.
7. You can also set up the schema mapping for your MySQL database. This involves mapping the fields from your source data to the corresponding fields in your MySQL database.
8. Once you have configured the settings and schema mapping, you can start syncing data from your source to your MySQL database. You can choose to run the sync manually or set up a schedule for automatic syncing.
9. Monitor the sync process to ensure that data is being transferred accurately and efficiently. You can view the sync logs and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
10. Congratulations! You have successfully connected your MySQL destination connector on Airbyte and can now start syncing data from your source to your MySQL database.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data to MySQL

Once you've successfully connected Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as a data source and MySQL as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

  1. Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
  2. Choose your source: Select Google Analytics 4 (GA4) from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose MySQL from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
  4. Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
  5. Select the data to sync: Choose the specific Google Analytics 4 (GA4) objects you want to import data from towards MySQL. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
  6. Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
  7. Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
  8. Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your MySQL data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data.

Use Cases to transfer your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data to MySQL

Integrating data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

  1. Advanced Analytics: MySQL’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within Google Analytics 4 (GA4) alone.
  2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), syncing to MySQL allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
  3. Historical Data Analysis: Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has limits on historical data. Syncing data to MySQL allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
  4. Data Security and Compliance: MySQL provides robust data security features. Syncing Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data to MySQL ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
  5. Scalability: MySQL can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data.
  6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data in MySQL, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
  7. Reporting and Visualization: While Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to MySQL, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) table that needs to be converted to a MySQL table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure MySQL as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

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What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

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Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?

Google Analytics API provides access to a wide range of data related to website traffic and user behavior. The following are the categories of data that can be accessed through the API:  

1. Audience data: This includes information about the demographics, interests, and behavior of website visitors.  

2. Acquisition data: This includes data related to how visitors are finding the website, such as through search engines, social media, or referral links.  

3. Behavior data: This includes data related to how visitors are interacting with the website, such as which pages they are visiting, how long they are staying on the site, and which actions they are taking.  

4. Conversion data: This includes data related to the goals and conversions on the website, such as the number of purchases, form submissions, or other desired actions.  

5. E-commerce data: This includes data related to online sales, such as revenue, average order value, and product performance.  

6. Real-time data: This includes data related to the current activity on the website, such as the number of active users and the pages they are currently viewing.  

Overall, the Google Analytics API provides a wealth of data that can be used to gain insights into website performance and user behavior.

What data can you transfer to MySQL?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to MySQL. This usually includes structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like transaction records, log files, JSON data, CSV files, and more, allowing robust, scalable data integration and analysis.

What are top ETL tools to transfer data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to MySQL include:

  • Airbyte
  • Fivetran
  • Stitch
  • Matillion
  • Talend Data Integration

These tools help in extracting data from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into MySQL and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.