

This helps keep your data pure while you’re internally testing your site’s marketing funnels.īut filters are also our main weapon against spam.īefore diving into how, let’s get clear on how many Views you should have and where to apply filters to fight spam in Google Analytics. So, for example, you can create a filter to remove all the traffic coming from your office based on the IP address of your office.Īs Google is processing the data, it will remove (or filter out) traffic coming from the IP address you set. They’ll be applied during the processing of your data before making it available in your view for you to see.Ī filter can be applied to a specific view, but not all of them. Section link Ok, but What Are Filters?įilters are instructions that you can give to Google Analytics. That process can be altered with filters based on your needs. By default, it will be called “All Website Data”. Once the data is sent to the property, it is processed by Google’s server and shown to you in the view. This should be your website, and it’s where the data is sent to. The first level (and column) is the Account. You can see them in the admin section as 3 columns: Your Google Analytics account is separated into multiple levels. Section link What Are Google Analytics Views? You need to apply filters on your Google Analytics views.įor that, you first need to figure out what patterns the bots are using to flood your Google Analytics account.įirst, though, let’s take a step back and make sure we’re all on the same page. That said, these strategies are easy to apply. There are solutions that will block most of them, but not a single solution will fix all your problems. The solution will vary depending on the spammers. Section link Bots and Spam in Google Analytics: The Solution(s) Fortunately, I have just the solution you’re looking for. When you see these names appear, you know you’re dealing with bot traffic and spam in your Google Analytics account. Here are some examples you may or may not have seen in your Google Analytics account: That said, there have been spikes once in a while of various new spammers. These kinds of spam-attacks were very popular in 2016 during the Trump election.


That’s because this kind of bot traffic pollutes your data, which means your typical conversion rate suddenly goes south.Īll the data that’s been driving your marketing decisions, telling you what kind of content to produce, where your sales are coming from, and what pages are most engaging… all of that information gets skewed. You’re going to see that site to see what’s going on.Īnd from there, I would assume some people will take the action they want you to take (buy a shady SEO course that they sell, see some ads that they make money from, and more).īut this problem isn’t just annoying for you. How? Again… that’s simple: they generally set the referral domain to their domain.Īnd when you see a new referral sending you hundreds or thousands of visits in a day, what will you do? Much like a kid pulling the hair of someone they like, they’re getting your attention. Which leads to the obvious question: what are they gaining?
#Google analytics trafficbot code
So a spammer can easily generate random numbers and use some very easy JavaScript code to send you tens, hundreds, or even thousands of fake page views. All they need to have is your tracking ID, which looks something like UA-XXXXXXXX-X. The core of the issue is that anyone can send data to your Google Analytics account. So, now, let's look at what the real problem is with bots and spam in Google Analytics: Section link Spam in Google Analytics: The Problem Otherwise, people wouldn't keep doing it. Maybe, but it's obviously working for someone. Sadly, some people decided that it would be a good idea for them to send spam to your Google Analytics account to get your attention. Google Analytics is the business’s source of truth for making well-informed marketing decisions.īut for the tool to be reliable, you need to be able to trust that data. Have you recently noticed some bot traffic or spam in Google Analytics?
