Inaccurate Visit numbers for custom variables?

[Joris W]

Hi,

In our Analytics, we have custom variables set up for certain categories of content on our website.

When I retrieve data for a single date for a single value of that custom variable, and select Visits as a metric, the numbers differ substantially from those shown in the Analytics website.

I'm using the GAPI PHP library now, but I've used Zend_Gdata before which also turned up inaccurate numbers.

Example:

if($result = $this->GAPI->requestReportData($this->profile_id,

                        array('customVarValue3', 'date'),

                        array('visits'),

                        null,

                        null,

                        $start,

                        $end,

                        1,

                        10000)) print_r($result);

[15] => gapiReportEntry Object
        (
            [metrics:private] => Array
                (
                    [visits] => 3044
                )

            [dimensions:private] => Array
                (
                    [customVarValue3] => Wetenschap
                    [date] => 20110820
                )

        )

The number of visits in the Web UI for this custom variable value, on this date, is 3,798.

Any clues? TIA.

[Nick]

I tested and couldn't reproduce.

I recommend trying to create a custom report, exporting to csv and comparing the row by row output. If you have more than 10k custom var values, you might need to paginate through the results.

Also you should add a sort for -ga:visits to make the query more consistent with the UI export.

-Nick