Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam Sheet 1 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: What is the URL parameter that autotagging appends to an AdWords destination URL?

gclid= (Correct answer)
clickid=
utm=
userid=
_ga=

Correct answer: gclid=

The Google Analytics Solutions Gallery is a platform where users can share and import various custom reporting assets. This includes custom reports (pre-configured reports with specific dimensions and metrics), segments (pre-defined user or session subsets for analysis), and goals (pre-configured conversion definitions). It allows users to quickly leverage best practices and specialized analyses created by the community.

Question 2: Which of the following features allows you to join the data generated by your offline business systems with the online data collected by Google Analytics?

Goal tracking
Data import (Correct answer)
Custom dimensions
Custom channel groupings

Correct answer: Data import

Intelligence Events (now often referred to as Custom Alerts) in Google Analytics are the tool to use for setting up automated notifications based on specific data changes. You can configure a custom alert to notify you if a metric, such as goal conversions, increases or decreases by a certain percentage within a defined timeframe. This is ideal for monitoring campaign performance and quickly identifying significant shifts.

Question 3: The Solutions Gallery allows you to import or share which of the following reporting tools or assets?

Segments
Custom reports
Goals
B & C only
A, B, and C (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A, B, and C

The Solutions Gallery in Google Analytics is a platform for sharing and importing various custom configurations. This includes Custom Reports, which allow tailored data views; Segments, which define specific subsets of users or sessions; and Goals, which track desired user actions. These assets can be shared and imported to quickly apply best practices or specific reporting needs across different accounts.

Question 4: You launched several new marketing campaigns and want to be notified if any of the campaigns lead to over a 10% increase in goal conversions on a given day. Which tool in Google Analytics would you use to set up this alert?

Intelligence Events (Correct answer)
Real-Time
D) Secondary Dimensions
Annotations
E) Advanced Segments

Correct answer: Intelligence Events

Intelligence Events (also known as Custom Alerts) in Google Analytics are designed to notify users of significant changes or anomalies in their data. You can set up custom alerts based on specific metrics and dimensions, such as a percentage increase in goal conversions for particular campaigns. This tool proactively informs you when predefined thresholds are met, allowing for timely action.

Question 5: True or False: If a user views one page of a website, completes an Event on this page, and then leaves the site, this session will be counted as a bounce in Google Analytics.

False: Because there was more than one interaction hit in the session (pageview hit and event hit) this session would not be considered a bounce. (Correct answer)
True: A session is considered a “bounce” if the user views one page of the site and then leaves.

Correct answer: False: Because there was more than one interaction hit in the session (pageview hit and event hit) this session would not be considered a bounce.

A bounce in Google Analytics is defined as a single-page session where the user leaves the site without any other interactions. If a user views one page and then completes an Event (which is considered an interaction hit), there are two interaction hits in that session. Therefore, this session would not be counted as a bounce, as it involved more than one interaction.

Question 6: Which report would you use to determine the percent of your site traffic that has already been to your site before?

Behavior – Frequency & Recency report
Interests – Affinity categories report
Behavior – New vs returning report (Correct answer)
All traffic – Referrals report
Ecommerce – Sales performance report

Correct answer: Behavior – New vs returning report

The 'New vs Returning' report, found under the Audience > Behavior section, is specifically designed to show the proportion of your site traffic that has visited before. It provides a clear comparison of new visitors versus returning visitors, along with their respective metrics like sessions, bounce rate, and conversion rates. This report is ideal for understanding audience loyalty and engagement.

Question 7: The Measurement Protocol is a standard set of rules for collecting and sending hits to Google Analytics. Using the Measurement Protocol you can

send data to Google Analytics from a kiosk or a point of sale system
upload aggregated data tables to Google Analytics
send data to Google Analytics from any web-connected device
A and B only (Correct answer)
A, B, and C

Correct answer: A and B only

The Measurement Protocol is a standard set of rules for collecting and sending raw user interaction data (hits) directly to Google Analytics. This enables you to send data from virtually any web-connected device, including non-browser environments like kiosks or point-of-sale systems. While Data Import handles uploading aggregated data tables, the Measurement Protocol extends GA's data collection capabilities beyond traditional web and app tracking by allowing flexible hit submission.

Question 8: Which of the following is a hit type tracked by Google Analytics?

ecommerce tracking hit
all of these are hit types tracked in Google Analytics (Correct answer)
page tracking hit
event tracking hit

Correct answer: all of these are hit types tracked in Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks various types of 'hits' or interactions that occur on a website or app. These include page tracking hits (recorded when a user views a page), event tracking hits (for specific user interactions like button clicks or video plays), and ecommerce tracking hits (for transactions and product-related data). All the listed options represent valid and distinct hit types processed by Google Analytics.

Question 9: Which of the following would prevent destination goal conversions from being recorded?

The tracking code is missing from the conversion page.
No URL destination goals have been defined
The match type in the goal definition is incorrect.
All of these would prevent a destination goal from recording. (Correct answer)
There was a misspelling in the URL of the goal definition.

Correct answer: All of these would prevent a destination goal from recording.

For a destination goal to be recorded, several conditions must be met. The tracking code must be correctly implemented on the conversion page, a destination goal must be explicitly defined in the view, the match type (e.g., 'Equals to,' 'Begins with') in the goal definition must accurately correspond to the URL, and there must be no misspellings in the URL defined for the goal. Any error in these areas will prevent the goal from recording.

Question 10: Which of the following metrics would most strongly suggest a poorly performing landing page?

% New Visits > 90%
Session Duration > 5 minutes
Bounce Rate > 90% (Correct answer)
Bounce Rate < 90%
None of these answers

Correct answer: Bounce Rate > 90%

A Bounce Rate greater than 90% is a strong indicator of a poorly performing landing page. This metric signifies that over 90% of visitors are leaving the page after viewing only that single page, without any further interaction. Such a high bounce rate suggests that the page is not engaging, relevant, or user-friendly enough to encourage visitors to explore further, indicating a need for optimization.

Question 11: Your business objective is to maximize the number of sales through your website. Which of the following metrics would most directly help you measure performance against this objective?

Ecommerce Conversion Rate (Correct answer)
Visits
Page Value
Bounce Rate
Pages / Visit

Correct answer: Ecommerce Conversion Rate

To maximize the number of sales through your website, the Ecommerce Conversion Rate is the most direct and effective metric to measure performance. This metric represents the percentage of sessions that result in an e-commerce transaction, directly quantifying how efficiently your website is converting visitors into paying customers. Other metrics like Visits or Bounce Rate are important but do not directly reflect sales performance.

Question 12: Which of the following attribution models would be useful for evaluating ads and campaigns that are designed to create initial awareness about a brand?

First Interaction model (Correct answer)
Last Interaction model
Linear model
Last Non-Direct Click model

Correct answer: First Interaction model

The First Interaction attribution model assigns 100% of the conversion credit to the very first channel a customer interacted with. For campaigns designed to create initial awareness, this model is ideal because it directly highlights which channels are most effective at introducing potential customers to the brand or product for the first time.

Question 13: Which of the following is not a required parameter in the URL builder?

Campaign Medium
Campaign Content (Correct answer)
Campaign Name
Campaign Source
All of these are required

Correct answer: Campaign Content

When using the URL builder for custom campaign tracking, the required parameters are Campaign Source (utm_source), Campaign Medium (utm_medium), and Campaign Name (utm_campaign). Campaign Content (utm_content) and Campaign Term (utm_term) are optional parameters used for more granular tracking, such as differentiating ad versions or keywords.

Question 14: You can combine a metric X with a dimension Y in Google Analytics

If X and Y have been precalculated together in an aggregate table
If X and Y are in the same channel grouping
If X and Y have the same scope (Correct answer)
If X and Y have the same campaign
as long as sampling is not required

Correct answer: If X and Y have the same scope

In Google Analytics, dimensions and metrics must share the same scope to be meaningfully combined in reports. Scope refers to the level at which data is collected (e.g., hit, session, user, product). Combining a metric and a dimension with different scopes would result in inaccurate or nonsensical data, as they wouldn't logically relate to each other.

Question 15: Which user characteristic may NOT be used to change keyword bids in AdWords?:

ad preference (Correct answer)
location
time of day
device

Correct answer: ad preference

AdWords (now Google Ads) allows advertisers to adjust keyword bids based on various user characteristics and contextual factors to optimize campaign performance. These include location, time of day, and device type. However, 'ad preference' is not a specific, actionable characteristic that can be directly used to modify bids within the AdWords platform.

Question 16: By default, Google Analytics can only collect behavioral data from web-connected systems.

False
True (Correct answer)

Correct answer: True

By default, Google Analytics primarily collects behavioral data through its JavaScript tracking code embedded on websites, which operates within web browsers. While it can integrate with other systems via the Measurement Protocol or Data Import, its fundamental and default data collection mechanism is from web-connected environments.

Question 17: Filters let you include, exclude, or modify the data you collect in a view.

True (Correct answer)
False

Correct answer: True

Filters are a powerful feature in Google Analytics that allow you to control and refine the data that appears in your reports. They can be configured to include only specific data, exclude unwanted data (like internal traffic), or modify data (e.g., converting URLs to lowercase) before it is processed and stored in a view.

Question 18: Which reports show websites that send traffic to your pages?

Demographics
All Traffic (Correct answer)
Behavior
Geo

Correct answer: All Traffic

The 'All Traffic' reports, specifically the 'Referrals' section found under Acquisition > All Traffic, are designed to show which external websites are sending traffic to your pages. This helps you identify valuable referral sources and understand where your visitors are coming from, excluding direct traffic and search engines.

Question 19: Which of these is NOT a benefit of Remarketing in Google Analytics?

Allow customers to reorder an item they have previously purchased (Correct answer)
Show customized ads to customers who have previously visited your site
Create remarketing lists based on custom segments and targets
Create remarketing lists without making changes to your existing Analytics snippet

Correct answer: Allow customers to reorder an item they have previously purchased

Remarketing in Google Analytics is primarily about creating audience lists of users who have visited your site, which can then be used to show them targeted ads on other platforms. While it can encourage repeat purchases, its direct benefit isn't to facilitate reordering an item within Analytics itself, but rather to enable customized ad campaigns to re-engage users.

Question 20: Which of these does Google Analytics use to distinguish new and returning users?

Artificial intelligence
A randomly-assigned unique identifier and browser cookie (Correct answer)
Facial recognition technology
A sequentially-assigned unique identifier and browser cookie

Correct answer: A randomly-assigned unique identifier and browser cookie

Google Analytics uses a randomly-assigned unique identifier, stored in a first-party browser cookie (the `_ga` cookie), to distinguish between new and returning users. This unique ID allows Analytics to recognize subsequent visits from the same browser as belonging to a returning user, even if they don't log in.

Question 21: Which of these criteria CANNOT be used to create a Custom Segment?

Metrics
Ad type (Correct answer)
Dimensions
Sequences of user actions

Correct answer: Ad type

Custom Segments in Google Analytics allow you to analyze specific subsets of your data based on various criteria related to users, sessions, or hits. You can segment by dimensions (like source, device), metrics (like revenue, bounce rate), or sequences of actions, but 'Ad type' is not a standard dimension available for creating custom segments.

Question 22: Once you have deleted a view, you have a limited number of days to restore that view.

False
True (Correct answer)

Correct answer: True

When a view is deleted in Google Analytics, it is not immediately and permanently removed. Instead, it is moved to a 'trash can' for a limited period, typically 35 days. During this grace period, you have the option to restore the view, preventing accidental data loss.

Question 23: Which filter would you apply if you only wanted to include data from a campaign titled “Back to School” in Campaign reports?

Predefined Include filter with “traffic to the hostname” “that are equal to” “back to school”
Custom Include filter with field “Page Title” and pattern “back to school”
Custom Include filter with field “Campaign Name” and pattern “back to school” (Correct answer)
Custom Search and Replace filter with field “Campaign Name”, string “back to school”, and pattern “include”

Correct answer: Custom Include filter with field “Campaign Name” and pattern “back to school”

To include data only from a specific campaign, you need to apply an 'Include' filter. This filter should target the 'Campaign Name' field and use the exact pattern 'back to school' to ensure that only data associated with that particular campaign is processed and displayed in your reports.

Question 24: Which report indicates the pages of your website where users first arrived?

All Pages report
Landing Pages report (Correct answer)
Location report
Pages report

Correct answer: Landing Pages report

The Landing Pages report, found under Behavior > Site Content, specifically shows the first page a user visited when they entered your website during a session. This report is crucial for understanding which pages serve as entry points and how effectively they engage new visitors.

Question 25: Metrics cannot be paired with dimensions of the same scope.

False (Correct answer)
True

Correct answer: False

This statement is false. Metrics and dimensions *must* be paired with the same scope to provide meaningful data in Google Analytics. For example, a session-scoped metric like 'Sessions' can be combined with a session-scoped dimension like 'Source' to analyze how many sessions originated from each source.

Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam Sheet 1

What is the URL parameter that autotagging appends to an AdWords destination URL?