What I mean is....there are 50 gazillion bots flying around the Internet each millisecond - how does/ how can/ how will GA be able to filter the good and the bad?
So...how accurate do you really think GA Unique Visitors are?
[Fingers crossed you will say 90% or more]
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How Accurate Is Ga - Really...?
Started by
lister
, Jul 29 2014 10:44 AM
7 replies to this topic
#1
lister
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 10:44 AM
#2
chrishirst
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 10:59 AM
Google Analytics is javascript based, so unless the bots are javascript enabled (most aren't) they won't trigger a count with it.
#3
lister
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 11:08 AM
Ah - that is interesting....ok....i just figured that the bot trigged the javascript counter.
But good to hear your positive reply.
#4
qwerty
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 12:07 PM
This has nothing to do with whether or not bots are counted as visitors, but keep in mind that, unless you spend the big money on Google Analytics Premium, the data reported in GA is extrapolated from a sample of your actual traffic. I've got a report open now, and there's a little note at the top of the page telling me:
This report is based on 244,750 sessions (3.11% of sessions).
The more traffic you have, or the longer the period of time you're looking at, the smaller the percentage of actual traffic GA is reporting on.
It might be accurate. Then again, it might not be.
#5
lister
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 12:17 PM
ok thanks...
doesnt sound very 'accurate' - but i guess it is free......
#6
chrishirst
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 01:12 PM
If you want accurate, ... Just use the site access logs, they record absolutely everything.
#7
Michael Martinez
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Posted 29 July 2014 - 01:21 PM
There ARE some bots that execute the Javascript but no one knows how many. It is possible to download open source software that does it for you. Again, no one knows how many bot writers go to that much effort.
But there are other sources of bogus traffic, such as low-cost labor in Asian and African countries that are hired to visit a site (maybe to guess passwords or crack anti-spam filters).
No analytics package is perfect. They all have to be managed and that means you have to learn about the technical details of how Web traffic works. The more well-known a site becomes the more bogus traffic it attracts. That's just the way it is.
But there are other sources of bogus traffic, such as low-cost labor in Asian and African countries that are hired to visit a site (maybe to guess passwords or crack anti-spam filters).
No analytics package is perfect. They all have to be managed and that means you have to learn about the technical details of how Web traffic works. The more well-known a site becomes the more bogus traffic it attracts. That's just the way it is.
Edited by Michael Martinez, 29 July 2014 - 01:21 PM.
#8
Jill
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Posted 30 July 2014 - 11:43 AM
- Michael Martinez likes this
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