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Give Gondola access to your Google Analytics (GA4)

Add Gondola's account to your GA4 property as an Editor so we can match your bookings to the visits and marketing that brought them in. About 5 minutes, removable any time.

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Written by Francesco Levorato

This guide shows you how to add Gondola's account to your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property with the Editor role. It takes about 2 minutes, and you can remove our access at any time.

Why we ask

Your booking system tells us when a booking happens. Google Analytics records how visitors found your website: Google search, an ad, social media, an email. Reading both lets us match your bookings to the marketing that brought them in.

We also set up Google's BigQuery export, which sends Gondola a daily copy of your website's events. That lets us link each booking to the exact website visit it came from. The copy starts on the day the export is set up; Google doesn't send earlier data.

Before you start

You need the Administrator role on your Google Analytics property. Only Administrators can add people to it.

If someone else set up Google Analytics for you (often a previous web designer or marketing agency), send them this page and ask them to follow the steps.

Step 1 — Open your property

  1. Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with the Google account you use for Google Analytics.

  2. Check the property name at the top left. If you have more than one, click it and pick the one for your website.

  3. Click Admin (the gear icon, bottom left).

Step 2 — Add Gondola's account

  1. Under Property settings, click Property access management.

  2. Click the blue + button at the top right, then Add users.

  3. In the email address field, paste this address exactly: ga4-reader@gondola-analytics.iam.gserviceaccount.com

  4. Untick Notify new users by email. The address is used by software and can't receive email.

  5. Under Standard roles, choose Editor.

  6. Under Data restrictions, leave No Revenue Metrics unticked so we can see booking values. You can tick No Cost Metrics if you'd rather keep your ad spend private; we don't need it.

  7. Click Add at the top right.

The address now appears in the list with the Editor role.

Step 3 — Let us know

Reply to our message in the chat, or email support@gondola.travel, with your website's domain. Your reply also confirms you're happy for Gondola to read this data and to receive the daily BigQuery copy. We'll tell you when the export is running.

What Gondola does with this access

  • We read your reports: visits, traffic sources, pages, events and purchases.

  • We set up the daily BigQuery export into Gondola's Google Cloud project, and add one custom dimension named Gondola ref, so your reports can show Gondola's booking reference.

  • That's all we use Editor for. We don't touch your other settings, tags, key events or users.

  • Google Analytics doesn't allow collecting names, email addresses or payment details, so none of your customers' personal details reach us through it. The BigQuery copy holds the same kind of data as your reports, event by event, including the random id Google Analytics gives each visitor's browser.

  • Nothing changes on your website or in your existing reports.

FAQ

  • Why Editor?
    Google only lets an Editor set up the BigQuery export and add a custom dimension. We use it for those two things and for reading your reports.

  • The email address looks unusual. Is it really Gondola's?
    Yes. It's a Google Cloud service account: a Google account that software uses, owned and controlled by Gondola. The part after the @ (gondola-analytics.iam.gserviceaccount.com) is Gondola's Google Cloud project.

  • I already export my Google Analytics data to BigQuery.
    A property can export to one BigQuery project only. We'll see your existing export when we set ours up, leave it untouched, and get in touch about another way.

  • Does the BigQuery export cost me anything?
    No. The copy goes into Gondola's Google Cloud project, and Google doesn't charge you for the daily export.

  • Will Gondola see my older data?
    Your reports go back to when your property started. The BigQuery copy only starts on the day the export is set up.

  • How do I remove Gondola's access later?
    Go back to Admin → Property access management, tick the box next to the address and click Remove. It takes effect straight away. Removing our access doesn't stop the BigQuery export; see the next question.

  • How do I stop the BigQuery export?
    Go to Admin → Product links → BigQuery links, click the link to the gondola-analytics project and delete it. Google stops sending the daily copy from then on. To have us delete the copy we already hold, email support@gondola.travel.

  • I can't see Property access management, or the + button is greyed out.
    Your Google account isn't an Administrator on this property. Ask whoever set up your Google Analytics to follow these steps, or to make you an Administrator.

  • Google says it can't add the address.
    Copy and paste the address from this page rather than typing it; a single wrong character stops it from working. If it still fails, email a screenshot of the message to support@gondola.travel.

  • I have more than one website or property.
    Repeat Step 2 for each property that belongs to a website Gondola runs for you.

  • My booking system (Peek, FareHarbor, Bokun) also has a Google Analytics setting. Does it matter?
    Yes. Bookings only show up alongside your website visits when your booking system uses the same Measurement ID (the code starting with G-) as your website. To find your website's ID, go to Admin → Data streams and click your website's stream. Then open the Google Analytics setting in your booking system and check it shows the same ID.

  • I don't use Google Analytics.
    Then there's nothing to do. Gondola's own website analytics keep working without it.

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