Brands and publishers blinded by Google Analytics real time data bug
Google Analytics, the web analytics tool vital to many publishers and brands to measure web traffic and search data on their websites, has suffered a real-time data collection outage for many users across the world (The Drum included).
Google Analytics
Almost a day ago, the company tweeted that it is working on a fix for the issue.
Some users may be experiencing issues with real time reporting. We are working on a fix and expect to have everything back to normal soon.
— Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) September 7, 2016
We are working on a permanent resolution to this issue, which is expected to go live tomorrow. Apologies for the inconvenience.
— Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) September 8, 2016
To bridge the gap it offered a quick fix to get the service back up and running, informing users they should deleted their cookies from their web browser and use a private tab.
Update: If you see errors accessing realtime reports in GA, a temporary workaround is to clear cookies or use an incognito browser window. — Google Analytics (@googleanalytics) September 8, 2016
However, it hasn’t seemed to work according to those responding to the issue on Twitter and The Drum's digital team.
As a result, the company has said that a delayed fix for the issue will be released tomorrow (Friday 9 September).
The question is, will the data drought harm the brands and publishers reliant upon the service?