C# wrapper around the Google Analytics Measurement Protocol API

GoogleAnalyticsApi.cs

/* based on the docs at: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/protocol/v1/devguide */
/*
 * LICENSE: MIT
 * AUTOHR: [email protected]
 */

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;

namespace Generic.Core.WebContext
{
    public class GoogleAnalyticsApi
    {
        public static void TrackEvent(string category, string action, string label, int? value = null)
        {
            Track(HitType.@event, category, action, label, value);
        }

        public static void TrackPageview(string category, string action, string label, int? value = null)
        {
            Track(HitType.@pageview, category, action, label, value);
        }

        private static void Track(HitType type, string category, string action, string label,
                                  int? value = null)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(category)) throw new ArgumentNullException("category");
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(action)) throw new ArgumentNullException("action");

            var request = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create("http://www.google-analytics.com/collect");
            request.Method = "POST";

            // the request body we want to send
            var postData = new Dictionary<string, string>
                           {
                               { "v", "1" },
                               { "tid", "UA-XXXXXX-XX" },
                               { "cid", "555" },
                               { "t", type.ToString() },
                               { "ec", category },
                               { "ea", action },
                           };
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(label))
            {
                postData.Add("el", label);
            }
            if (value.HasValue)
            {
                postData.Add("ev", value.ToString());
            }

            var postDataString = postData
                .Aggregate("", (data, next) => string.Format("{0}&{1}={2}", data, next.Key,
                                                             HttpUtility.UrlEncode(next.Value)))
                .TrimEnd('&');

            // set the Content-Length header to the correct value
            request.ContentLength = Encoding.UTF8.GetByteCount(postDataString);

            // write the request body to the request
            using (var writer = new StreamWriter(request.GetRequestStream()))
            {
                writer.Write(postDataString);
            }

            try
            {
                var webResponse = (HttpWebResponse) request.GetResponse();
                if (webResponse.StatusCode != HttpStatusCode.OK)
                {
                    throw new HttpException((int) webResponse.StatusCode,
                                            "Google Analytics tracking did not return OK 200");
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // do what you like here, we log to Elmah
                // ElmahLog.LogError(ex, "Google Analytics tracking failed");
            }
        }

        private enum HitType
        {
            // ReSharper disable InconsistentNaming
            @event,
            @pageview,
            // ReSharper restore InconsistentNaming
        }
    }
}

Hi,
I found your gist very useful.
Just two things you might want to add to save others some debug time.

1. request.KeepAlive = false;
2. webResponse.close();

Otherwise the third call to the function will get stuck until the request timeout.

Thanks :)

Hi There, thanks for the code but no events are recorded when I use it. I think this may be to do with "cid", "555" -- where do I get the value which should overwrite the "555" from your sample code ? thanks C

Also you should update this to be https:

According to their docs:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/protocol/v1/reference

Transport

URL Endpoint

You send data using the Measurement Protocol by making HTTP requests to the following end point:

https://www.google-analytics.com/collect

All data should be sent securely with the HTTPS protocol.

You can send data using either POST or GET requests.

Hi,
I think for tracking pages, the code is not correct. Need to pass parameters dh, dp, dt
See documentation:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/protocol/v1/devguide

v=1              // Version.
&tid=UA-XXXXX-Y  // Tracking ID / Property ID.
&cid=555         // Anonymous Client ID.

&t=pageview      // Pageview hit type.
&dh=mydemo.com   // Document hostname.
&dp=/home        // Page.
&dt=homepage     // Title.

Google Analytics 4 ?

No 😁 The gist was last edited in 2015 - I think we had GAv2 back then 😉

Will this work with GA-4 key ?

Please try it out for yourself - I am not maintaining this piece of code. Thank you.