What is Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam?

Google Analytics Individual Qualification (or Google Analytics IQ) is a exam conducted by Google to test your knowledge of Digital Analytics and Google Analytics.

Once you pass this exam, you get a certificate from Google through which you can demonstrate your proficiency in Google Analytics to your prospective client / employer.

This certificate is valid for 18 months from the date you passed this exam.

You need to retake this exam after every 18 months to keep the certificate valid.

There is no fees to take this exam.

Difference between Google Analytics IQ and Google Analytics Certified Partner

#1 GAIQ certification is for individuals. Whereas Google Analytics Certified partner certification is for companies which provide analytics and conversion optimization services to online business.

#2 Having a GAIQ certification does not by itself qualify you or your business to become a Google Analytics Certified Partner (GACP).  To become a Google Analytics Certified partner you would need to meet several other requirements which are listed here.

#3 Google does not offer any Google Analytics IQ badge when you pass the GAIQ test. But it does offer Google Partner badge when your business qualify to become a GACP.

Note: Creating or displaying a GAIQ badge on your website is against Google trademark policies and may result in your GAIQ certification being revoked.

#4 Once you pass the GAIQ exam, you can share your certificate with others via Google Partners public profile page. On the other hand once you qualify for GACP, you get your own listing in the Google Analytics Partner gallery.

Note: GAIQ exam is available in several foreign languages in addition to English.

How to prepare for Google Analytics IQ exam

Go through the following courses at Google Analytics Academy one by one:

#1 Google Analytics for Beginners

#2 Advanced Google Analytics

#3 Ecommerce Analytics: From Data to Decisions

#4 Google Tag Manager Fundamentals

#5 Join the Google Analytics Solutions Community and ask your questions there.

Watch every video, take notes and complete various assessments.

Each course is made up of several units.

Each unit covers one or more topics.

Each topic has got a video, transcript, additional resources to read and multiple choice questions.

It is important the you go through the additional resources and take notes.

Even if you have already passed GAIQ test several times before, it is important that you go through the study material and familiarize yourself with any new topic.

You will almost always find something new added to the course material.

Watch videos but don’t waste time taking notes from them.

Instead use the ‘Text Transcript’ at the bottom of each video to take notes.

This is because majority of these video tutorials rush through the study material and you will have a hard time taking notes from them directly.

Practice what you learn. Practical knowledge is very important in order to pass this test.

Majority of questions you get in your exam are based on your understanding of the Google Analytics topics and this understanding can be developed only through practicals.

You are likely to get few high level questions on Google Tag Manager. So be prepared for that.

GAIQ Test Preparation Resources

#1 Go through the articles listed in Google Analytics Training Resources and Tutorials

#2 Google Analytics IQ Center – contains hundreds of questions (and also correct answers) from GAIQ exam.

Also check out my two new e-books on Google Analytics:

Google Analytics IQ Exam format

#1 GAIQ exam consist of 70 questions which you need to complete within 90 minutes. That means you have slightly less than 1 and ½ minute to answer each question.

#2 Passing Score for this exam is 80%. Which means you need to correctly answer at least 56 questions.

#3 You can retake this exam as many times as you wish. But you need to wait for at least a week before you can retake this test.

However you may never know which answers were incorrect and what are the correct answers.

So even if you retake the exam just to improve your score, it won’t make much difference as you can make the same mistake twice.

#4 The exam comprises of multiple choice and true and false questions and many of them are of ‘check all that apply’ type.

#5 You can no longer pause the test. Once you start the test, the exam timer will continue to run until 90 minutes have elapsed or you choose to finish the test. The timer will run even if your computer shut down in the middle of the test.

#6 You can no longer mark questions and revisit them later during the test.

#7 Over the last couple of years, Google has moved away a lot from the factual straightforward questions to logical reasoning based questions.

So if you think you can read the question, quickly search the internet and get the answer, then my friend it is not going to work.

You may be able to answer few questions with this tactic but it is highly unlikely that you will pass the test which is full of logical reasoning based questions.

If you wish to pass this test, then you must develop a good practical understanding of various reports, metrics and features of Google Analytics.

For example, just knowing the basic facts about filters through the course material is not enough.

You must have practical knowledge of implementing filters.

Google is unlikely to ask you questions like ‘what is a filter’ or ‘what are the different types of filters’.

It is more likely to ask you, which of the following filter is the best solution to solve the problem or whether a particular filter is correct?

To answer such questions, not only you must have good knowledge of regular expressions but you must also know how filters are actually created and processed and which filter type is the best solution for a particular problem.

#8 Google doesn’t ask all of the questions from the prescribed syllabus.

#9 Google no longer charge any fees to take this exam. It is available for free.

How to take Google Analytics IQ exam

Once you are ready to take the exam:

#1 Visit https://www.google.com/partners/

Note: Soon all Google exams and certifications will be moved to Academy for Ads

#2 Click on ‘I am Agency‘ link (at the top right hand side)

#3 Click on ‘Join Google Partners‘ button and create your Google Partners Profile. Once you have created your partners profile, you will get access to take the GAIQ exam.

#4 Click on the ‘Analytics’ link under ‘certifications’:

#5 Click on the ‘Take Exam’ button:

#6 Before you start the test, read the instructions carefully:

#7 Make sure you answer all the questions.

#8 Don’t spend more than 1 and 1/2 minute on any question.

Remember the clock is ticking and you have got 70 questions to answer.

Future of the GAIQ Exam

As Google enhances the features of Google Analytics, the test is only going to become more difficult.

This is because you then need to be aware of many more metrics, reports and features.

GAIQ Sample Questions for you

Expect to get lot of questions on regex, filters, site search, metrics, dimension, real time reporting, demographic reporting, Ecommerce tracking etc.

Regex questions are generally like the one where you are asked to verify whether a particular regex is the best match to solve the problem.

Now I am going to ask you few questions which I got in my test.

Let us see how many of the questions you can answer.

Q1. You notice that the Goal conversion rate in your site search terms report is different from the Goals menu report, what is the likely reason for this discrepancy?

a. This is a bug, the figures should match

b. Not all visits include a site search, only those which did are included in the conversion rate calculation in the site search terms report.

c. The site search terms report is only able to show goal conversion rates for one of our goals.

d. Of those who perform a search during their visits, fewer are likely to convert

Q2. You manage a website that sells household appliances. Your website assigns the product id 17 (pid=17) to all pages related to refrigerators. You would like to have a view where your data includes only pages on your site related to refrigerators. Which of the following would accomplish this?

a. Filter-1: Type: Custom Search and Replace; Field: Request URI ; Search for “pid=17” and replace with “/refrigerator”
Filter-2 Type: Custom include; Field: Request URI ; Pattern: “/refrigerator”

b. Filter-1: Type: Custom include; Field: Request URI ; Pattern: “/refrigerator”
Filter-2 Type: Custom Search and Replace; Field: Request URI ; Search for “pid=17” and replace with “/refrigerator”

c. Either of these would work

Q3. Why might your reports show sessions coming from a paused or discontinued campaign?

a. Because users originally referred by that campaign are now returning via another Adwords campaign.

b. Because users originally referred by that campaign are now returning as direct visitors

c. Because users originally referred by that campaign are now returning via organic search.

d. Because users originally referred by that campaign will always be reported as coming from that campaign.

Q4. Does Google Analytics track sessions to cached pages?

a. Yes

b. No

Q5. You define a goal using regular expression match and the following regex:
^products/show\.[a-zA-z]+
Which pages will count as conversions? Select all that apply

i. https://www.abc.com/shop/products/show/?prodid=1012

ii. https://www.abc.com/sales/products/show.aspx

iii. https://music.abc.com/shop/products/show.php?id=167012

iv. https://www.abc.com/show/products?prodid=7012