Hi Folks,
I’m facing a data discrepancy issue in Looker Studio and would appreciate some guidance.
Setup
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We track video watch time using custom JavaScript on the website.
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The watch time value is sent to GA4 via GTM after a user watches a video.
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The GA4 data source is connected directly to Looker Studio.
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A report-level filter is applied for a specific page path.
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Scorecards are configured using:
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Event Name filter (same event for all scorecards)
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Video Title filter to segment data for three different videos
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Issue
When displaying Total Video Watch Time in a scorecard, the value is lower than the combined watch time shown for the individual video scorecards.
For example:
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Video A Watch Time = X
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Video B Watch Time = Y
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Video C Watch Time = Z
The “Total Video Watch Time” scorecard shows a value that is less than X + Y + Z, which should not be possible given the setup.
Additionally, there appears to be an overall discrepancy between:
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The data being sent to GA4 (verified through GTM/GA4 debugging), and
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The data ultimately reported in Looker Studio.
Questions
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Are there any known limitations or aggregation issues in Looker Studio when using GA4 custom event parameters and scorecards?
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Is there a possibility that Looker Studio is applying aggregation differently for the total scorecard versus the filtered video scorecards?
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What would be the best way to troubleshoot potential data loss between GA4 and Looker Studio?
Any suggestions on how to investigate or resolve this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!