Summary
The tool will be unavailable, showing a screen that explains the eligibility requirements, including the need to import non-Google campaign data. Scenario Planner needs full spend data across every paid channel before it will model a budget. Import the social media cost data under Admin, Data import, and match the source and medium to your UTM tags to make the planner usable.
Nitin Batra is a Google Analytics 4 certified professional who configures cost data imports, Google Ads links and Advertising workspace reporting for paid media accounts on a regular basis.
Last updated: August 16, 2026
If cost data from non-Google campaigns has not been imported, the Scenario Planner will be unavailable and GA4 shows an eligibility screen explaining the requirements, including the need to import non-Google campaign data.
- The tool will be unavailable, showing a screen that explains the eligibility requirements, including the need to import non-Google campaign data.
- The tool will recommend allocating 0% of the budget to the social media channel because it interprets the missing cost data as zero investment.
- The tool will provide accurate recommendations by using Google’s machine learning to estimate the missing cost data from the social media channel.
- The tool will overestimate the return on investment (ROI) from social media, as it will see conversions from that channel without any associated costs.
The correct answer is: The tool will be unavailable, showing a screen that explains the eligibility requirements, including the need to import non-Google campaign data.
Key Takeaways
- – Scenario Planner will be unavailable and will show an eligibility screen that explains the requirements, including importing cost data for non-Google campaigns.
- – Linking Google Ads only supplies Google spend. Any other paid platform needs a manual Cost data import under Admin, Data import.
- – Budget planning tools need cost, clicks and impressions for every paid channel, otherwise the return calculation for the missing channel has no denominator.
- – A common mistake is uploading cost data with source and medium values that do not match the UTM parameters on the live campaign links, which leaves the imported spend unjoined and the planner still blocked.
Where is the Scenario Planner located in GA4?
It sits in the Advertising section of the left navigation, under the Planning group, next to the attribution reports. If your property does not meet the requirements, opening it shows an eligibility screen instead of the planning interface. That screen lists what is missing, such as linked ad accounts and imported non-Google cost data.
How do you import cost data for a non-Google platform into GA4?
Go to Admin, then Data import, create a new data source and choose Cost data. You upload a CSV or connect SFTP with columns for date, source, medium, campaign, cost, clicks and impressions. The source, medium and campaign values must match the UTM tags on your social ad links exactly, otherwise GA4 cannot join the spend to the sessions it already collected.
Will GA4 estimate missing ad spend on its own?
No. GA4 does not invent or model spend that was never provided. Cost data comes only from linked Google properties or from a manual cost data import. That is why the Scenario Planner blocks itself rather than running a plan with one channel showing conversions and zero cost.
What happens to other GA4 reports if social media cost data is missing?
The traffic and conversions still appear normally in the acquisition reports, because those come from UTM tagging. What breaks are the cost related columns in the Advertising reports, so metrics like cost per click, cost per conversion and return on ad spend show nothing for that channel. Anyone comparing channel efficiency in those reports will see Google Ads looking expensive and the social channel looking free, which is misleading.