Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool from Google. Considering most of Google products are inaccessible in China, many people assume Google Analytics doesn’t work in China either.
However, is that really the case?
Well, things are complicated. Let me explain.
Google Analytics consists of the following parts:
- The web interface, where you can check your website’s traffic reports;
- The tracking codes, which you install on your website that collect the traffic information for you;
- Google Tag Manager (optional), a tag management system that helps you manage tracking codes.
Let’s look at each of them one by one:
The Web Interface
The web interface locates at analytics.google.com, so unfortunately, it’s blocked.
The Tracking Codes
The tracking codes of Google Analytics download data from and upload data to the two domains below:
- www.google-analytics.com (default)
- stats.g.doubleclick.net (double click enabled)
www.google-analytics.com is unblocked and loads pretty fast in China, while stats.g.doubleclick.net, although not blocked, performs very poorly and can significantly slow your website down if installed.
Google Tag Manager
GTM’s codes locate at www.googletagmanager.com, which is unfortunately very slow in China. So using it will significantly slow down your site in China too.
Quick Takeaways
- The web interface of Google Analytics is blocked in China;
- The tracking codes of GA (double click disabled) work pretty well in China;
- The tracking codes of GA (double click enabled) work in China but are very slow;
- Google Tag Manager is very slow in China;
- We recommend using Google Analytics without double click enabled.
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