The Chrome Web Store offers integration with Google Analytics. This allows you to see analytics for your Chrome Web Store listing in addition to the view offered in the Developer Dashboard.
To track usage of your extension, see Using Google Analytics 4.
Opt-in to Google Analytics
When viewing your item in the Developer Dashboard, find the Additional metrics section on the Store listing page. Click "Opt in to Google Analytics".
Then, head to https://analytics.google.com/. You should have access to a new property which has been named with your extension ID.
Limits
Some limits apply in your Google Analytics property. These include:
- Data retention is set to two months.
- Data de-identification is enabled, which limits access to non aggregated data to prevent tracking an individual user. For example, data may be withheld if it does not meet system-defined thresholds.
- Additional users can only be added by syncing with a Group Publisher (see below).
Page views
Each time a user visits your extension listing, you will see a page view for the following URL: /webstore/detail/ext/free/EXTENSION_ID/EXTENSION_NAME
Events
The Chrome Web Store also sends a number of events to your property:
page_view,session_start,first_visitanduser_engagementinstall: A custom event sent when a user installs your extension. This is only sent if a user accepts the permission prompt to complete the install.
Monitoring ad performance
Using UTM parameters
A common use case for developers is monitoring advertising performance. In these cases, it is useful to know which ads led to views of your item’s store listing or which resulted in conversions.
You can use the utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign parameters for this which are all
forwarded to Google Analytics. For example, an ad could direct users to the following URL:
You will see the following for the corresponding page_view and install events:
- Session source:
ad - Session medium:
cpc - Session campaign:
summer-ad-campaign
If this is the first time the user has visited your extension listing the "first user medium", "first user campaign", and "first user source" fields will also be set.
Connecting to Google Ads or other services
It is not currently possible to link your Google Analytics property to other services like Google Ads. We recommend periodically checking the data in Google Analytics to understand ad performance and make decisions about how to optimize campaigns.
Tracking conversions
The install event generated when a user installs your extension can be marked as a conversion event. Go to Admin, then Conversions and choose New Conversion Event. Enter "install" and click Save. The event will now appear as a Conversion across your Google Analytics dashboard.
Giving other accounts access to Google Analytics
Using a Group Publisher
To give other Google accounts access to your Google Analytics property, set up a Group Publisher. Members of this group will be automatically granted access to the Google Analytics property. Note that granting access to the linked group means those users can act on behalf of the publisher account. This means they can access the Developer Dashboard and edit and publish updates to your extensions. Consequently, access should be shared sparingly.
With Looker Studio
Alternatively, you can use Looker Studio to create a report based on your Google Analytics data. This can be easily shared with any Google account.
Simple choose "Create" and choose the type of file you would like to create. Use the Google Analytics connector and add your property under the "Chrome Web Store developer properties" account.