Google Analytics has been overrun with spam – there’s no doubt about it. Every time I login to an account I can’t help but notice all the misrepresented data on display. There are a number of different ways to exclude this data in GA but I have found this simple solution will remove the majority of unnecessary referral spam. It will even allow you to view your data historically.
So here is the quick fix: Setup a custom advanced segment where the hostname contains the URL.
Here we go, step 1:
Under Audience > Overview (the default Google analytics screen) click on the ‘All Sessions’ segment to display the segment options. Then click ‘New Segment’.
Step 2:
Rename the segment to something recognisable, for example “Hostname contains yoururl.com”.
Under Advanced > Conditions select ‘Hostname’ as the filter, ‘contains’ as the parameter and then enter the URL you are tracking.
Then click ‘Save’.
Step 3:
You’re done! Just go and select your new segment and click ‘Apply’.
There you have it, a quick and easy way to retroactively filter the majority of your referral spam.
Image Credit: Business
