I want to use Google Analytics to track my iOS application hits.
I've read Google Analytics Collection Limits and Quotas article. It says
Each property starts with 60 hits that are replenished at a rate of 1 hit every 2 seconds. Applies to All hits except for ecommerce (item or transaction)
It is not quite clear for me what "1 hit every 2 seconds" means.
Here is what i think:
1 hit every 2 seconds = 0.5 hits per second
frequency (hits per second) = number of hits / time interval (seconds)
So my question is:
What time interval does Google Analytics use to calculate hits frequency?
Is it time elapsed from session start? Or is it a time for current day? Or is it calculated every 2 seconds?
I believe this rate limiting happens on the client (via the SDK) and not on the server. Server side limits exist, but they apply equally to all clients (so not iOS-specific).
The 60 hits + 1 per 2 seconds rule means that when you instantiate the tracker object in your app, it starts out with a 60 hit quota, and it adds 1 additional hit every 2 seconds.
As an example, if you instantiated the tracker, and the user didn't do anything for 10 seconds, you'd have 65 hits left in your quota. If the user then performed 10 actions within the next 10 seconds, you'd be back to 60 hits left in your quota. Does that make sense?
So to answer your ultimate question, the it's not about time interval, it's about when the clock starts, and that happens when the tracker object is created on the client.