Semalt Expert Suggests A Quick Fix For Google Analytics Referral Spam

1. 23.05.2018 Semalt Expert Suggests A Quick Fix For Google Analytics Referral Spam The buzz is going on around the internet concerns how referral spam is on the rise and how it ruins analytic data. Referral spam affects all online users. There is not much cause for alarm, but it is very annoying. Also, depending on the size of the web page, referral spam could have detrimental impacts on the analytical data and decision making. Websites that receive massive amounts of organic traf?c may suffer very little from referral spam as it makes a small dent in the reported outcome. However, for small-scale websites, it could have a grave impact on the marketing campaign. Much of the solutions given online, point towards maintaining a regularly updated list of all the spammy domains affecting the website. It seems very impractical to say the least. It is the reason why Igor Gamanenko, the leading expert from Semalt, outlines some of the features which should help in realizing the great potential there is in making such lists. Referral Spam Background For new users, or people hearing about referral spam for the ?rst time, they should not worry. In the Google Analytics account they own, they should scroll the referring domains and look if any of these appear on the list: Guardlink.org - 215 Simple-share-buttons.com - 133 Free-share-buttons.com - 71 Forum.topic50813058.darodar.com - 55 https://rankexperience.com/articles/article1307.html 1/2

2. 23.05.2018 Free-social-buttons.com - 41 www.event-tracking.com - 34 Site26.simple-share-buttons.com - 26 www3.free-social-buttons.com - 23 www.Get-Free-Traf?c-Now.com - 18 Buy-cheap-online.info - 17 The list provided above comes from a dummy account created by one user who did not end up using it. Therefore, the account did not receive a tracking ID. It goes to show, based on the Google Analytics pro?le, that spammers ended up cycling through random IDs with the hope that they get a response. The ?gures associated with each domain are sure visits generated by referral spam. Filters It is worth noting that the data collected by Google Analytics is only free of spam if the user applies a ?lter. One has to create a segment, inclusive of all the ?lter rules they want to use. It is a free process. From the examples provided, the spam sessions mostly fall into either one or both the following categories: Invalid hostname. It means that it does not refer to your site. Screen resolution. The user has not yet set the screen resolution for the website. Therefore, by using the two ?lters, the user can permanently exclude them from the report. The Last Few Sessions If one does not wish to create and maintain a list of domains, there is the option of eliminating the previous few visits. It applies the spammer's technique against them. Since it is relatively easy to locate a spammy domain, one can ?lter the speci?c one to ensure that it does not appear in every new wave of new referral spam. Therefore, the user does not need to keep updating the list and expanding the ?lter rules. https://rankexperience.com/articles/article1307.html 2/2