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Google Analytics Flash issues? Check your script access

Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 PM by Pramesh Attwala  |  Comments (0)

Before you toss your Mac through the window, here’s a troubleshooting tip for integrating Google Analytics and Flash.

As you probably know, you can track Flash events in Google Analytics. This gives you more robust site statistics—you can, for example, track how users interact with Flash video players, even how much of a video they watch.

But the integration can be a challenge. A few weeks ago, for example, we worked with a client’s Flex developer to integrate Google Analytics into a Flash-based weight loss assessment. Users reached the assessment after clicking a link on an HTML website. After planning and implementing a search marketing campaign to drive traffic to the site, we found that Google Analytics wasn’t properly reporting conversions to their source. Comparing results to AdWords conversion stats, things didn’t add up.

Users appeared to start a new session every time they began their assessment. And that made it exceedingly difficult to know which traffic source had the best return on investment. After working through a list of potential issues, it came down to the equivalent of having an unplugged cord. Looking at the code to embed Flash into the site, we found this culprit:

<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />

Because of the way Google Analytics functions, this line of code should have been the following:

<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" />

It’s a slight difference, but one that will improve your data’s reliability and usefulness—and prevent you from destroying a perfectly good computer in frustration.

Tags: adobe flash, featured, google analytics, google analytics flash integration, google analytics troubleshooting