GA4 Data Exploration: Wildcard in SQL Queries in BigQuery

As we delve into the intricacies of GA4 data analysis in BigQuery, it's crucial to spotlight a powerful tool that can truly transform your querying experience: the versatile LIKE operator/statement in SQL.

In data exploration, the LIKE operator is akin to a master key, unlocking the potential to uncover valuable insights from your GA4 datasets.

LIKE statement allows you to go beyond the constraints of exact matches, enabling you to craft queries based on partial information or patterns.

The SQL LIKE statement is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

The basic syntax for this statement is

SELECT *
FROM your_project_id.your_dataset_id.your_table_id 
WHERE event_name LIKE ‘the pattern you want to search’;

The most common wildcard characters used to build the pattern is % (percent sign): % represents zero or more characters.

Let’s take a look at a few GA4 examples to illustrate how this works.

Example 1: In GA4 when a user becomes a member of an audience group, we trigger an event called audience followed by the name of the audience group, e.g. audience_usa, audience_india, etc. Let’s write a query to find the list of events that are triggered by the audience feature in GA4.

Since we know that all the events triggered by the audience in GA4 start with “audience” we need to find all the events that start with “audience” but can have anything after that. In that case, you can use this pattern: audience% in the LIKE statement.

Here is what your SQL will look like:

SELECT event_name
FROM your_project_id.your_dataset_id.your_table_id 
WHERE event_name LIKE ‘audience%’;

Here is a screenshot showing the SQL and the result set.

Note: To find a unique list of events, so that the event names do not repeat, you can use “DISTINCT” in the SELECT statement.

Example 2: Let’s say that we want to select all the events that end with “india” Then we will use the following SQL:

SELECT event_name
FROM your_project_id.your_dataset_id.your_table_id 
WHERE event_name LIKE ‘%india’;

In the above SQL % sign indicates any character followed by “india” at the end.

Example 3: Select all the events that have “course” in the middle. In that case, you will use the following SQL:

SELECT event_name
FROM your_project_id.your_dataset_id.your_table_id 
WHERE event_name LIKE ‘%course%’;

In the above SQL % sign indicates any character followed by “course”, which is then followed by any other character.

Note: You can use the % sign multiple times to define the pattern you need.

Advanced Notes:

While the LIKE statement in SQL is a powerful tool for flexible pattern matching, it comes with some downsides and considerations:

Subscribe to Premium Membership to read the rest.