You can set up custom dimensions in Google Analytics to create richer and more informative reports on the traffic of your Google News feed.
Create custom dimensions for Google News
Important: After you create a custom dimension, you cannot delete it. You can make it inactive and change its name, but you can't remove it entirely.
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To create a custom dimension for News in Google Analytics, select Hit in the 'Scope' field.
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To keep your data from having incorrect headings and titles, add the custom dimensions in the chart below.
Custom dimensions tracked by Google News
Make sure that you add the dimensions in this exact order:
Index | Title/name | Description | Matching field in Publisher Centre |
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1 | Publication ID | Unique ID given to each publication. | N/A |
3 | Section ID | Unique ID given to each section inside a publication. | N/A |
4 | Article ID | Unique ID given to each article in a section. | N/A |
5 | Publication name | The name of the publication on which an event occurred. | Publication name |
7 | Section name | The name of the section on which an event occurred. | Section name |
8 | Article title | The title of the article on which an event occurred. | Title under Manage Articles |
9 | Page number |
Articles: The page (as measured by one screenful of content while a user scrolls) on which an event occurred while reading an article. Sections: The page of the section on which an event occurred.Important: Page numbers start at zero. |
N/A |
10 | User subscription type |
The reader's subscription type. Possible values include: 2 – not subscribed 3 – free 4 – paid |
N/A |
11 | Offline | Whether the reader was offline when the event occurred. | N/A |
12 | Placeholder | Create a placeholder custom dimension and mark it as inactive (untick the Active tick box when creating). It won't track any data. | N/A |
13 | Placeholder | Create a placeholder custom dimension, and mark it as inactive (untick the Active tick box when creating). It won't track any data. | N/A |
14 | Placeholder | Create a placeholder custom dimension, and mark it as inactive (untick the Active tick box when creating). It won't track any data. | N/A |
15 | Placeholder |
When articles are read, this dimension tracks which screen the user was on when they clicked on the article. Possible values include:
|
N/A |
16 | Placeholder | Create a placeholder custom dimension and mark it as inactive (i.e. untick the Active tick box when creating). It won't track any data. | N/A |
17 | Translated language | The language to which your publication or article was translated when it was read. The default value is 'None' if the content was not translated and read in its original language. | N/A |
18 | Placeholder | Create a placeholder custom dimension and mark it as inactive (i.e. untick the Active tick box when creating). It won't track any data. | N/A |
19 | AMP version | Whether the reader saw the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) version of an article (if available). It'll be true if the user was shown the AMP document and false otherwise. Users may not see the AMP version if they have an older application or OS version or are offline. | N/A |
Learn more about how to create a custom dimension in Analytics.
The next time that a reader syncs your publication, Analytics will start to track their viewing activity. This lets you:
- See an aggregated view of your readership.
- Use your custom dimensions when you create a custom report as segments or secondary dimensions via the Google Analytics standard reports.
Add custom dimensions to your default reports
To display the value of a custom dimension on the default reporting views:
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Sign in to Analytics.
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To navigate to a default report view, click Behaviour
Screens.
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Underneath the graph, click the Secondary dimension drop-down.
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In the drop-down, expand Custom dimensions.
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Select the desired custom dimension.
Important: If you'd like to view your data using additional dimensions or metrics, click the 'Advanced' link.