google analytics catch 22

Question

I have a catch 22 situation here with the google analytics tracking code. I have a form that upon submission submits data to an api. We recently decided to record this submission as an ecommerce transaction with the google analytics tracking code. The transaction does not get recorded until the application get submitted and returns data from the api. This is because data from the api is included in the transaction.

The issue is that the form also autosaves data to a database so that if the form is not completely filled out and/or submitted an automated php script can pick it up later for submission to the api.

Now the catch 22

I need to find a way to implement this for the data that is submitted via the automated php script.

3 solutions that won't work

1. Submitting the the transaction on the serverside to ga. This is possible, but in this scenario all the data that google analytics collects from the client comes from the server which eliminates the whole purpose of using google analytics to begin with.

2. Submitting the transaction before the form is submitted. Remember we need to retrieve data from the api to submit in the transaction.

3. Saving information about the client to the database for including in headers when submitting the transaction on the serverside to google analytics. Something like this would probably work that is if I new all the information that google analytics collects about the client, how to spoof my ip address and had the time to build a solution like this.

Answer 1

Use AJAX for your auto-saves and use SUBMIT for the final update.

Answer 2

For option 3, you could use the Urchin tracking methods to simulate the data as it would be sent to Google Analytics, and instead send it to a local file which scrapes the request info and then sends it to Google when its done.

So, your JS code would look like this:

var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-XXXX-1");
pageTracker._setLocalServerMode(); //this disables external GA calls. 
pageTracker._setLocalGifPath("/foo/bar.gif");
pageTracker._trackPageview(); //or your transaction calls

From looking at the URL request this makes against a regular __utm.gif request, it seems that the only important thing missing is the utmcc parameter, which appears to be a url-encoded version of the Google Analytics cookies. You'd want to track this as well (out of document.cookie, or on the server side), so that you could add it to the query string when you make your Google Analytics request. This is important because this is where the session and source information is stored; otherwise your tracking won't have context.

Then, on the server, bar.gif could rewrite to bar.php, which captures the query string and request headers that Google would have sent to its servers (of primary importance is the query string and the user agent string and the IP address); , and then adds whatever data it needs, then takes the resulting query string and makes a cURL request to the Google Analytics version of that URL, with spoofed headers for browser, etc.

Answer 3

Unless you can use asynchronous tracking code to send the data after the API returns the necessary bits of data, there is no sensible way. The method described above is good and all, but would still require you to spoof IPs to Google, as the IP is read from the incoming call and it would again be the server.

In my experience Google Analytics is not the correct tool for cases such as this (server side tracking).

Answer 4

There's a question about sending Google Analytics hits from the serverside at #1027660 that has several suggestions on how to generate a server-side click.

Whilst that contravenes your "can't do it this way #3", you might find it looks simple enough to be worth breaking that rule.

Good luck!