Google Analytics Audit Test #

91

Product Id is Associated with Only One Name

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding product and website performance.

Industries:

Ecommerce

Checks For:

Accuracy

How accurate is your recent data?

Insight Category:

Behavior

Can you tell what visitors are doing?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test checks whether each product ID (item_id) in Google Analytics is consistently associated with a single product name (item_name).

In Google Analytics ecommerce tracking, every product should have a unique and stable identifier.

If the same product ID is paired with multiple names, it creates confusion in reports, inflates product counts, and corrupts product performance metrics.

This issue often results from:

  • Inconsistent naming conventions across systems (e.g., different versions of names from feeds, CMS, or tag setups)
  • Typos or formatting mismatches in Google Tag Manager or dataLayers
  • Dynamic product name injection or A/B testing without ID isolation

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How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In GA4 > Explore, build a Free-form report:
    • Dimensions: Item ID, Item Name
    • Metrics: Item revenue, Add-to-carts, Item views
  • Look for cases where a single item_id is associated with multiple item_name values

Advanced QA

  • In BigQuery, use this query to count how many unique names exist per item ID:
    SELECT item_id, COUNT(DISTINCT item_name) AS name_variants
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`, UNNEST(items) AS item
    WHERE event_name = 'purchase'
    GROUP BY item_id
    HAVING name_variants > 1
  • This will quickly flag inconsistencies across your ecommerce tracking.

Automated, Free Audit

Want help identifying naming conflicts? Run our Instant Audit

Or hire a pro to clean up your ecommerce data.

How To Fix

  • Standardize product naming at the source (e.g., product feed, CMS, or backend)
  • Ensure your item_name value is static and consistent across:
    • All ecommerce-related events (e.g., view_item, add_to_cart, purchase)
    • All environments (dev, staging, production)
    • If using Google Tag Manager, review the dataLayer structure and tag setup to make sure item_name is not dynamically or inconsistently set
    • Avoid injecting variant or test copy into item_name—use a separate custom dimension if needed
  • Hire a pro to align your product tracking and restore confidence in product-level insights and optimization efforts.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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