When analyzing your Facebook Page performance, one of the biggest challenges is avoiding duplicated unique users and ensuring your totals are reliable. If you’ve ever seen inflated numbers when adding up daily data, you’ve probably run into this issue.
To solve it, Dataslayer’s Page time period option lets you control how metrics are grouped (daily, weekly, last 28 days, or totals), making your Facebook Insights reports far more accurate.
Why Page Time period option matter?
By default, Facebook Insights provides Page metrics on a daily basis. But not all metrics make sense to sum up per day. For example:
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Total Reach or Followers can be duplicated if you simply add daily values.
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With the Page time period option, you can request the totals directly in a clean way, avoiding inconsistencies.
Which metrics are affected?
This option applies only to Page-level metrics, such as:
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Total Reach
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Page Followers
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Total Likes
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Page Reactions
Post-level metrics, such as Post impressions or Post name, are always reported as lifetime values. This means they do not support time-period grouping, and the Page time period option will not have any effect on them.
Video metrics also work primarily with lifetime values. A few of them allow daily breakdowns, but in most cases, they are fixed to lifetime and therefore are not influenced by the Page time period setting.
Available options
When setting the Page time period, you can choose:
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By day (default) – Metrics grouped daily.
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By week – Metrics grouped weekly.
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Last 28 days – Metrics grouped in a rolling 28-day period.
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Total over range – Aggregate totals for the full date range you select.
Meta’s API only allows totals for up to 90 days. Going beyond that may return inconsistent results.
Using Page time period with dimensions
The Page time period controls how metrics are aggregated, while your query’s dimension controls how data is displayed.
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If you choose time dimension = day but set Page time period = week, Dataslayer will ignore the mismatch and keep “day”.
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If you want weekly grouping, use dimension = week together with the Page time period = week.
Aligning the dimension and the Page time period will return consistent results.
What if different metric types are mixed in the query?
The Page time period option only applies to Page-level metrics. If your query includes metrics or dimensions from different endpoints, such as combining Page metrics (e.g., Total Likes, Page Followers) with Post metrics (e.g., Organic Post Reach, Post name), the request will not work because each type of metric is retrieved from a different Facebook endpoint.
In practice:
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Queries that include only Page metrics will respect the Page time period you select.
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Queries that include only Post metrics will always return lifetime values.
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If you try to combine them, Dataslayer will return an error since Facebook does not allow mixing endpoints in the same request.
How to set the Page Time Period option in Dataslayer
- Google Sheets/Excel extension
Once you've selected the accounts and the data table information, scroll down in the fourth section called OPTIONS. You’ll find the Page time period option at the end of the list.-Jul-29-2025-12-42-14-6471-PM.png?width=688&height=252&name=Browser%20template%20(5)-Jul-29-2025-12-42-14-6471-PM.png)
- Looker Studio
Once you have chosen the Hub Account and the relevant Accounts in the connectors configuration, simply scroll down to the bottom of the list to locate the option:.png?width=688&height=344&name=Troubleshooting%20LS%20(11).png)
- Web Destinations
Once you have selected the accounts, metrics, and dimensions, simply scroll down to the Options section, where you will find the "Page time period" option listed at the bottom:.png?width=688&height=378&name=NEW%20UI%202025%20-%20About%20the%20Hub%20%20refresh%20credentials%20(2).png)
Common Issues and their solutions
In using the "Page time period" option, you may encounter a few common issues. Here are some explanations and solutions to help you navigate these challenges effectively.
| Issue | Fix |
| Page followers' metric value is not correct | Select "Total over range" under Page Time Period option |
| Inconsistencies in the "Reach" total | Limit queries to periods of up to 90 days |
The Page time period option in Dataslayer is a simple but powerful way to get more accurate Facebook Insights data, avoid duplicated unique users, and create cleaner reports.
By aligning your dimensions and using the right time period, you’ll save time and ensure your reports truly reflect what’s happening on your Facebook Page.
As always, please contact us via our live chat on our website or via email if you still have doubts or questions. We are happy to help!