Connect Google Play reports

This connection lets Marketing read the statistics reports that Google Play writes for your developer account, to show an app's installs and store listing visitors with the brand's other numbers. It reads files from the Cloud Storage bucket that Play keeps your reports in, with a service account that you make. It is your org's or a brand's. See Connections for how connecting works in general.

Ways to connect

Play's reports are connected with Add a key only: a service account's JSON key file, and the name of your reports bucket. Google's help article on Play Console reports describes the bucket and the files in it.

Making the key

  1. Make a service account. In the Google Cloud console, in a project of yours, open IAM & Admin > Service accounts and create one. Name it so you know what it is for, for example play-reports.
  2. Make its key. Open the service account, choose Keys > Add key, and choose a JSON key. The file downloads once; it is the secret.
  3. Invite it to Play Console. In Play Console, open Users and permissions and invite a new user whose email is the service account's. Give it the permission to view app information and download bulk reports, with the access set to Global, so that it covers every app in the account.
  4. Find the bucket. In Play Console, open Download reports, then Statistics, and choose Copy Cloud Storage URI. It looks like gs://pubsite_prod_rev_ followed by digits. The bucket is the part after gs://.
  5. On the Connections page, choose Add a key for Google Play (Play Console reports), paste the JSON key (the whole file's text) into API key, and press Check and save. The bucket from step 4 is a setting of the connection, which the check reads, and the dialog has no field for it today. If the check says the reports bucket is not set, send GreenMind the bucket's name.

Scopes

A service account signs itself in, so there is no consent and nothing to add to an app. GreenMind asks Google for read-only access to Cloud Storage, which is what reading the bucket needs, and the service account can read the bucket only because Play Console lets it.

After connecting

Say which app it reports on under Numbers, Imports, in Store numbers: choose Use a connection, pick this connection and give the Package name, for example com.yourstudio.yourgame.

What is read

Google writes Play's statistics once a month and refreshes them within days. The installs report by country and the store listing acquisition report by traffic source are read, so a new month's figures appear once Google has written them.

If it goes wrong

  • Cloud Storage refused the service account. The service account was not invited in Play Console, or was invited without permission to view app information, or has not been set to Global. Play Console can take a little time to apply an invitation.
  • That is not a service account key file. The text pasted is not the whole JSON file that Google Cloud downloaded.
  • The reports bucket is not set, or is not a Play reports bucket. It must be named pubsite_prod_rev_ followed by digits. Copy it again from Play Console.
  • Google refused the service account's key. The key was deleted. Make a new one and Reconnect.
  • No figures for a month. Google has not written that month's file yet.