Google Analytics Connector for SSRS

Google Analytics Connector can be used to read data from Google Analytics Service without learning complex API. Easy to use interface allows you extract large amount of data adjusting parameters such as dimensions, metrics, filters, sortby, date range etc. You can also use inbuilt reports or specify direct query URL to get desired data.

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Google Analytics data in SSRS without coding. We will use high-performance Google Analytics Connector to easily connect to Google Analytics and then access the data inside SSRS.

Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that!

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Create Data Source in Data Gateway based on

In this section we will create a data source for Google Analytics in Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

  1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Search for gateway in Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:

    Opening Data Gateway

  3. Go to Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:

    • Click Add button
    • In Login field enter username, e.g., john
    • Then enter a Password
    • Check Is Administrator checkbox
    • Click OK to save
    Data Gateway - Adding User

  4. Now we are ready to add a data source:

    • Click Add button
    • Give Datasource a name (have it handy for later)
    • Then select Native -
    • Finally, click OK
    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    Data Gateway - Adding data source

  5. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Google Analytics" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Google Analytics" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    Google Analytics
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  6. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

    OAuth Authentication

    Google Analytics authentication

    Amazon OAuth Security Profile has be created in Amazon Developer portal. [API reference]

    1. Firstly, login into Amazon Developer portal in https://developer.amazon.com.
    2. Then click Sign in.
    3. If you don't have an account, press Create your Amazon Developer account button to create one.
    4. Once logged in, click on your profile icon on the right-top of the window and hit Settings: Amazon developer profile settings
    5. Then click Security Profiles and proceed with creating a new Security Profile:
      6. Create Amazon developer security profile
    6. After that, click Web Settings subtab, then hit Show Secret button to reveal the Client Secret (you will need it later), and click Edit to add a Redirect URL:
      7. Reveal client secret in Amazon developer security profile
    7. Continue by setting Allowed Return URLs (you can have your own or use https://zappysys.com/oauth): Set return URLs in Amazon developer security profile
    8. Done! Now you can use Client ID, Client Secret, and Redirect URL when configuring OAuth Authentication parameters: Use client ID and client secret to connect to REST API Amazon services
    API Connection Manager configuration

    Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

    1. Set Authentication Type to OAuth Authentication [OAuth]
    2. Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
    3. Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
    4. Press Generate Token button to generate the tokens.
    5. Finally, hit OK button:
    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    Google Analytics
    OAuth Authentication [OAuth]
    https://advertising-api.amazon.com/v2
    Required Parameters
    ClientId Fill-in the parameter...
    ClientSecret Fill-in the parameter...
    AuthorizationUrl Fill-in the parameter...
    ReturnUrl Fill-in the parameter...
    Scope Fill-in the parameter...
    Profile (click 'Generate Token' before this) Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
    RetryStatusCodeList 429
    RetryCountMax 5
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime True
    ODBC DSN OAuth Connection Configuration

  7. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

    - Google Analytics
    Google Analytics Connector can be used to read data from Google Analytics Service without learning complex API. Easy to use interface allows you extract large amount of data adjusting parameters such as dimensions, metrics, filters, sortby, date range etc. You can also use inbuilt reports or specify direct query URL to get desired data.
    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    Open Query Builder in API ODBC Driver to read and write data to REST API

  8. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in SSRS to retrieve data from Google Analytics. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step. 

    SELECT * FROM Orders
    Configure table/endpoint parameters in ODBC data source based on API Driver
    Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Google Analytics API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.

  9. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in SSRS:

    - Google Analytics
    Google Analytics Connector can be used to read data from Google Analytics Service without learning complex API. Easy to use interface allows you extract large amount of data adjusting parameters such as dimensions, metrics, filters, sortby, date range etc. You can also use inbuilt reports or specify direct query URL to get desired data.
    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    SELECT * FROM Orders
    API ODBC Driver-based data source data preview
    You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
    A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Google Analytics API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Google Analytics servers).

  10. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

  11. Very important step. Now, after creating or modifying the data source make sure you:

    • Click the Save button to persist your changes.
    • Hit Yes, once asked if you want to restart the Data Gateway service.

    This will ensure all changes are properly applied:

    ZappySys Data Gateway - Save Changes
    Skipping this step may result in the new settings not taking effect and, therefore you will not be able to connect to the data source.

Read data in SSRS from ZappySys Data Gateway

  1. Open Visual Studio and create a new SSRS project.

  2. Then add a new Shared Data Source (you can create a non-shared data source inside report too):

    Adding a Data Source in SSRS project

  3. Continue with creating the Shared Data Source. Select Microsoft SQL Server as Type and hit Build button to proceed further:

    Configuring a Data Source to access API data in SSRS project

  4. Once a window opens, configure it similarly. Configure "GoogleAnalyticsDSN" as database name. Finally, hit Test Connection and OK:

    GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    Configuring thoroughly a Data Source to access API data in SSRS project

  5. Another window opens, and it should look similarly to this one below which ends the creation of a Data Source:

    DataSource=localhost,5000;Initial Catalog=GoogleAnalyticsDSN
    How Data Source in SSRS project looks like

  6. Now it's time to create a Dataset. If you don't have a report created, in one of the wizard's steps it will look like this:

    SELECT * FROM Orders
    Specifying a query in SSRS Dataset to access API data #1

  7. Finally, once you complete the report, similar results will show up:

    ZappySys Data Gateway API data source results

Passing Parameters to SSRS Report / Filter data

If you want to parameterize your report, then refer to this article

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Google Analytics in SSRS and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort.

We encourage you to download Google Analytics Connector for SSRS and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download Google Analytics Connector for SSRS Documentation

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Download Google Analytics Connector for SSRS Documentation