GCP-ADP Data Analysis And Presentation Practice Question
You are analyzing query performance in BigQuery. You notice that your queries are spilling to disk. What is the most likely cause?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
An inefficient JOIN or GROUP BY operation causing high memory pressure.
Operations like ORDER BY, JOIN, or GROUP BY on large datasets without efficient distribution or filtering often cause spills to disk when memory limits are exceeded.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The project is using On-Demand pricing.
Why it's wrong here
Pricing models do not impact the physical execution of memory-heavy operations.
- ✗
The dataset is stored in a multi-region location.
Why it's wrong here
Data location affects latency and compliance, not disk spills.
- ✗
Using too many slots in the reservation.
Why it's wrong here
More slots typically improve performance, not degrade it.
- ✓
An inefficient JOIN or GROUP BY operation causing high memory pressure.
Why this is correct
Memory-intensive operations on non-optimized data result in disk spills.
About these practice questions
One of 205 original GCP-ADP practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
This GCP-ADP practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the GCP-ADP exam.