Google Analytics getTotalsForAllResults inconsistent for different dimensions

Question

print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors')->getTotalsForAllResults());
print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors', array('dimensions' => 'ga:visitorType'))->getTotalsForAllResults());
print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors', array('dimensions' => 'ga:operatingSystem'))->getTotalsForAllResults());
print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors', array('dimensions' => 'ga:browser'))->getTotalsForAllResults());
print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors', array('dimensions' => 'ga:networkLocation'))->getTotalsForAllResults());
print_r($service->data_ga->get('ga:78834361', '2014-01-01', 'today', 'ga:visitors', array('dimensions' => 'ga:city'))->getTotalsForAllResults());

returns

Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 120
)
Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 123
)
Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 121
)
Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 121
)
Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 128
)
Array
(
    [ga:visitors] => 131
)

Why are the results inconsistent? Everything is the same except for the dimensions.

As requested, I have tried with "ga:visits" instead of ga:visitors. The results are consistent here. Even more confusion.

Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)
Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)
Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)
Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)
Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)
Array
(
    [ga:visits] => 184
)

After some thought, is it because during that time frame, a new visitor may have revisited the site again at a later date still within the time frame, thus flagging them as a returning visitor? (for second line of code. Similar logic for the other lines?)

please put
tag then use print_r instead of vardump and show me — Padmanathan J, Jan 24 '14 at 06:07
I have done so, but what does that have to do with anything? — No_name, Jan 24 '14 at 06:27
@PetrHavlík if you look at the low numbers comming back i dont think the data is sampled. — Linda Lawton - DaImTo, Jan 27 '14 at 08:24
@DaImTo true true... can you list the dimensions in the output just to see what numbers "are missing"? — Petr Havlik, Jan 27 '14 at 10:01

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 08:23

If you check the diffrent reports on the GA website you will notice that they use, Visits,Visitors,Pageviews, and unique Pageviews. They are all tracked diffrently, depending on what you are trying to show its best to know the diffrence between them.

Visits vs. Visitors

Analytics measures both visits and visitors in your account. Visits represent the number of individual sessions initiated by all the visitors to your site. If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity is attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes are counted as part of the original session.

The initial session by a user during any given date range is considered to be an additional visit and an additional visitor. Any future sessions from the same user during the selected time period are counted as additional visits, but not as additional visitors.

Pageviews vs. Unique Pageviews

A pageview is defined as a view of a page on your site that is being tracked by the Analytics tracking code. If a visitor clicks reload after reaching the page, this is counted as an additional pageview. If a user navigates to a different page and then returns to the original page, a second pageview is recorded as well.

A unique pageview, as seen in the Content Overview report, aggregates pageviews that are generated by the same user during the same session. A unique pageview represents the number of sessions during which that page was viewed one or more times.

That is all true, but doesn't explain why the total number of unique visitors differ if sliced by different dimensions. — Petr Havlik, Jan 27 '14 at 10:00

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 10:03

No_name,

one more hint -- use different end-date (ideally today - 2 days).

The data might not have been processed yet (Google claims in some cases, it might take up to 48 hours to process everything).

I have just tested something similar and I got the correct number for both visits/visitors no matter what dimension I picked.

Hope this helps.

Google Analytics getTotalsForAllResults inconsistent for different dimensions

2 Answers2

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