What is a Measurement Protocol in Google Analytics?

A measurement protocol defines how developers can collect and send user interaction data directly to Google Analytics from other devices besides a website or mobile app. 

Unlike the Analytics from Javascript and mobile SDKs, where it automatically sends user interaction data(such as page views, transactions, events, etc) to analytics from mobile and websites, other devices need to be built and sent manually. This is where measurement protocol comes in handy. 

With Google’s measurement protocol, you can send data to the Google Analytics server from any device and system with an internet connection. So, for example, you can send data from your cash counter machine and measure your offline conversions. However, you’ll need to format the data according to Google’s measurement protocol to enable this interaction. Without it, you won’t be able to send data to Google Analytics. 

The measurement protocol can help in useful in several ways:

• Measure interactions from client-side and server-side. 
• Sends data from offline interactions
• Connect online to offline behavior. 

Moreover, the measurement protocol is beneficial for implementing cross-device tracking.