Google Analytics has introduced a new feature called Comparisons in its Data API v1beta. This feature allows users to evaluate subsets of their data side by side. The core reporting methods of the API have been updated to support a new field, comparisons, which specifies the configuration of comparisons requested in a request.
Users can specify either a basic comparison by providing the dimensionFilter expression with a request, or use a saved comparison by providing the comparison's resource name in the comparison field. The getMetadata method has been updated to list all saved comparisons available for a property under the comparisons response field. When at least one comparison is specified in a request, the response will contain the comparison column identifying each comparison.
Currently, saved comparisons can only be created using the Google Analytics UI. Each comparison produces separate rows in the response and is identified by a name. If the name is unspecified, the saved comparisons display name will be used.
The JSON representation of a comparison is as follows:
{
"name": string,
"dimensionFilter": {
object (FilterExpression)
},
"comparison": string
}
The dimensionFilter object represents a basic comparison, while the comparison string represents a saved comparison identified by the comparison's resource name.
Image Credit: Brais Calvo Vázquez
