Hotjar is currently co-developing an integration with Google Optimize, to allow for seamless integration between the two platforms so you can benefit from both!
This integration is only available to Business plan customers
Hotjar's integration with Google Optimize is available on Business plans. If you're interested in upgrading to a Business Plan, follow our guide on how to upgrade your Hotjar Plan.
Recordings integration for Google Optimize
The Google Optimize integration for Hotjar Business customers adds support for Optimize experiment filtering on user Recordings. This integration is enabled by default for all Business customers on Billing version 2 or later, and does not require any setup.
How to filter Recordings by Optimize experiments
Head to the Recordings view in your Hotjar dashboard.
Click Add filter and select Google Optimize from the drop-down list.
Add your Optimize Experiment ID to the field.
You can use the drop-down field to search and select an Experiment ID from the list. If you're unsure which Experiment ID you should use, click the Google Optimize experiments link that appears below the Experiment field. This will take you to your Google Optimize dashboard, where you can find the experiment ID that you'd like to use.
Why can't I see any experiments listed?
If you don't see any Google Optimize experiments in the filter drop-down, check out the FAQ section at the bottom of this article.
Select one or more Variants if applicable.
Depending on the experiment you're running, you'll see one or more checkboxes appear next to each Variant listed in your experiment. Select the one(s) you'd like to apply to your Recordings filter. If your experiment doesn't include variants, you can skip this step.
Only the Optimize Experiment ID can be linked to Hotjar.
At this time, Hotjar is only able to access the Experiment ID from Google Optimize. No other data can be retrieved from your Google Optimize account.
Click Apply
Your Recordings list will now only display Recording sessions from users associated with the selected Optimize experiment, based on the variant(s) you selected. You're all set!
FAQ and Troubleshooting tips
Why doesn't my Optimize filter detect any active experiments?
Hotjar is only able to detect Google Optimize experiments after at least one session from the experiment has been recorded. Ensure that your Recordings are enabled and targeting pages that will be included in your experiments. As soon as an experiment is triggered in a recorded session, you should be able to filter by that experiment.
I've collected Recordings that show the pages in my experiment, but the filter still doesn't recognize them.
There are a couple of possible causes for this:
- Check your Optimize experiment to see if it's a Redirect test experiment. Hotjar is unable to detect redirect experiments because the page changes before Hotjar can recognize the Optimize experiment on the initial page.
- Check to see how your experiments are being communicated to Optimize. In the past, Optimize could be added using analytics.js but this is a legacy method that is not compatible with the Hotjar Optimize integration. Sending the data using gtag.js will resolve this issue.
Why am I seeing optimize.callback events in GTM or in my DataLayer?
This happens for any Hotjar sites that are using a Business plan where the Google Optimize integration is enabled. When enabled, the integration triggers an optimize.callback event to determine whether or not there are any Optimize experiments running on a given page, even if the customer doesn't use Google Optimize.
The optimize.callback events only look for active Optimize experiments, but serve no other purpose and can be ignored.
If needed, you can disable the Google Optimize integration from your list of integrations by de-selecting the check box.
