Facebook and Instagram Insights Time Zone Mismatch

Facebook and Instagram Insights Time Zone Mismatch

Info
The time in a Facebook Insights or Instagram Insights report may not match the time shown in Facebook Creator Studio or in the Instagram app. This article explains why this happens and how to correct it for Instagram Insights using the new Timezone configuration option.

Cause

By default, Facebook and Instagram's APIs format all of their data to match the time zone at their headquarters (UTC -8:00, or UTC -7:00 during daylight saving time). Unless otherwise configured, reports built from this data will display timestamps in that default time zone rather than your local time zone.

Solution for Instagram Insights

Power My Analytics now offers a Timezone option when setting up a new Instagram Insights report. This option allows you to choose the time zone that will be used for the dates and times in your Instagram Insights data, so that your report aligns with the time zone shown in the Instagram app or in Meta Business Suite.

The Timezone option is available in the following places:
  • Looker Studio: When creating a new Instagram Insights report, select your desired time zone in the Looker Studio Configuration (default: UTC). You can also enable Allow "Timezone" modification in reports if you would like report editors to be able to change the time zone later.
  • PMA Spreadsheets Addon: When creating a new Instagram Insights report in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel using the PMA Spreadsheets Addon, select the desired time zone from the Timezone option during report setup.
  • Data Builder: When adding Instagram Insights as a data source in Data Builder, select the desired time zone from the Timezone option.
Notes
Note: The Timezone option is set at report creation. To change the time zone for an existing Instagram Insights report, either reconnect the data source using your preferred time zone, or (in Looker Studio) enable Allow "Timezone" modification in reports when you first create the data source so that the time zone can be updated later without reconnecting.

Solution for Facebook Insights

A Timezone configuration option is not currently available for the Facebook Insights connector. Because Facebook's API delivers Facebook Insights data in its default time zone (UTC -8:00, or UTC -7:00 during daylight saving time), our connectors can only retrieve the data as Facebook sends it.

If you are reporting Facebook Insights data in a spreadsheet, you can apply a formula-based time zone offset to your report. See Report a Different Time Zone in Spreadsheets for step-by-step instructions.

Still Need Help?

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