What is a GA4 Incompatible Request?

A GA4 Incompatible Request occurs when a user attempts to generate a report via the GA4 user interface or data API using a combination of dimensions and metrics that cannot be queried together.

This incompatibility can lead to errors and prevent the data from being displayed in the report.

GA4 Incompatible Request Example

Sometimes in a GA4 report, you may not see any data and think the tracking has broken.

But what could have really happened is that you made an ‘Incompatible Request‘, which resulted in data not being shown.

Whenever you try to query dimensions and/or metrics that can not be queried together via the UI or the data API, it could result in some or all of the data not being shown.

The data is not visible in the screenshot above because the metric ‘items_Purchased_to_items_viewed_rate‘ metric is incompatible with other metrics ‘, users’, ‘Key events’ and/or ‘event count’.

GA4 will show you an Incompatible request warning when you click the red exclamation mark button.

Note: In some interfaces, like GA4 exploration reports, incompatible dimensions and metrics are automatically greyed out, preventing them from being selected together. This helps avoid the generation of incompatible requests.

How to fix GA4 Incompatible Request

#1 Refer to GA4 Dimensions & Metrics Explorer to find compatible combinations of dimensions and metrics.

#2 Use BigQuery. You can overcome the limitation of incompatible requests by using GA4 with BigQuery.

One of the biggest advantages of using BigQuery is that it does not have the same limitations as the GA4 user interface and API regarding which dimensions and metrics can be queried together.

When you use BigQuery, you can manipulate GA4 data in ways that are many times not possible when using the GA4 user interface or the data API.

That means you can perform more advanced data segmentation and analysis when using GA4 with BigQuery.

#3 Sometimes, changing the type of report or the way data is visualized (For example, from a line chart to bar chart) can circumvent issues arising from GA4 incompatible requests.