{"id":23229,"date":"2019-07-15T08:50:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T13:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=23229"},"modified":"2019-07-10T15:10:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T20:10:23","slug":"filter-spam-bots-in-google-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/filter-spam-bots-in-google-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Filter Spam Bots in Google Analytics [Step by Step Guide]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You know how valuable Google Analytics is<\/a> and you\u2019re ready to take all the insights it can offer to improve your website\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as you pull up the Acquisition<\/em> data to see how people are finding your website, you notice some strange entries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"spam<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chances are, this means that you\u2019ve become a victim of spam bots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"best<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What Is Google Analytics Referral Spam?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spammers will do anything to drive more traffic to their websites. One of the tactics they\u2019ve employed to this effect is finding ways to show up in Google Analytics, hoping that website owners will click on a site to see why it\u2019s sending traffic their way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google Analytics referral spam used to be much more common, but Google works hard to keep those spammy sites from showing up in your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, many websites will still see some results in their Google Analytics data produced by spam bots. If you care about getting accurate data about your website\u2019s performance-and you should, because it\u2019s the only way to understand what\u2019s working-then you need to filter spam bots in Google Analytics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a handy guide on how to do just that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Filter Spam Bots from Your Google Analytics Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two main types of filters you should set up to capture most referral spam from bots. For both, you have the same first few steps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Keep an unfiltered view.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When you make any technical change, you always want to have a backup. In Google Analytics, that means keeping an unfiltered view<\/strong>. This provides you with data you can use for comparison with the filtered results you get, to make sure they\u2019re working. And it provides you with a view you can revert back to if one of your filters doesn\u2019t work right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, go to the Admin<\/em> section in Google Analytics by clicking on the Gear icon in the bottom left corner. Click on View Settings <\/em>in the third column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"settings<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Click on Copy View,<\/em> then name your view Unfiltered<\/em>, or something similar.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"set<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2. Click on Filters under the View column.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With that done, go back to main Admin<\/em> page by either clicking the back icon or the gear icon again. Click Filters<\/em> in the View<\/em> section (Note: this is different than All Filters<\/em> in the Account<\/em> section).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"google<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

3. Click +Add Filter. <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Click the red “+add filter” button. Then move onto the next section for the specific filters to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"add<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2 Google Analytics Filters to Set Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Valid Hostname Filter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A valid hostname filter<\/strong> is the best way to filter out ghost spam. These are the spam bots that manage to ping your Google Analytics without ever actually visiting your website. Ghost spammers use automated scripts to send traffic to random websites, usually using a fake host. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By telling Google Analytics how to recognize a valid host, this type of filter cuts the ghost spam from your analytics view.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Find your hostnames in Google Analytics. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A valid hostname is anywhere that you\u2019ve legitimately set up Google Analytics tracking. That includes your website, most obviously, but also services like marketing tools you use and payment gateways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find a hostname report in Google Analytics in the Audience<\/em> section by selecting Technology<\/em>, then Network<\/em>. Select Hostname<\/em> as your Primary Dimension<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"find<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Set your date range to go back at least a year. Scan the list to identify your valid hostnames. You should be able to recognize these as your own domain name, and any tools you use and knowingly allowed access to your Google Analytics tracking. Anything you don\u2019t recognize or don\u2019t manage yourself is probably spam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s an entry you\u2019re not sure about, do some Googling. For example, Google Web Light isn\u2019t something I manage directly, but it\u2019s a service Google provides to load speedier pages on mobile devices with slow connections. That makes it legit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"example<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2. Create a filter listing your hostnames.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back over in our Add Filter<\/em> screen (scroll back up to the Getting Started section if you need a reminder), name the filter something like “Valid Hostnames.” Select Custom<\/em> under Filter Types<\/em>, Include<\/em> in the list of bullets below that, and Hostname<\/em> from the dropdown menu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Filter<\/em> Pattern, list all your valid hostnames in this format:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

yourdomain.com|hostname2|hostname3|hostname4 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want to fit all of your valid hostnames into one filter here-you can\u2019t create more than one filter that includes hostnames. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"create<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

3. Test your filter. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you click save, take a few seconds to test the filter out and make sure you configured it right. You can use the Verify Filter<\/em> option right there on the page to run a basic test and see how the filter would affect your data for the past 7 days. Note that, if your website doesn\u2019t currently get that many spam hits, 7 days might not be enough of a sample set to show a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019re confident your filter is accurate, click Save<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crawler Spam Filter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The other main category of spam bots that show up in Google Analytics is crawler spam<\/strong>. These are bots that actually do visit your site. They leave a correct hostname, so won\u2019t get caught in your valid hostname filter. Instead, you need to exclude these from your analytics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Find the crawler spam in your analytics.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start, identify the crawler spam that shows up in your analytics now. In the Acquisition<\/em> menu, choose All Traffic<\/em>, then Referrals<\/em>. Change your date range to include at least a year. Now browse the list of websites to look for any that appear to be spammy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"find<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some will look immediately suspicious. For example, display-your-ads-hereti.info<\/em> jumps out in the list above as probably spam. But for anything you\u2019re not sure about, do a Google search for 'what is <URL>'\u009d and you can usually get your answer for whether or not it\u2019s spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"search<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If the list here is long, it\u2019s probably not worth your time to try and filter out every single spam bot, but if there are a main few sending a lot of fake traffic to your site, make note of them to include in your filter.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Look up common crawler spam lists.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the spam examples you find in your own analytics, you can find pre-created filters that list many of the most common offenders on sites around the web (such as here<\/a> and here<\/a>). These will cover many of the spam bots that may not have hit your website yet, but could. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Create a filter (or multiple filters) listing the crawler spam.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in our Add Filter<\/em> screen, name your filter something like “Referral Spam.” Choose Custom<\/em> as your Filter type, click on the Exclude<\/em> button, and select Campaign Source<\/em> in the dropdown menu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the pre-created filters you find, you can simply copy-and-paste them into your Google Analytics. For any you manually create, use the same format you did for your hostname filter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spamname|spamname2|spamname3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since you have a limited number of characters you can use for each filter, you\u2019ll likely be creating several different filters in this step. Be sure to give them each a unique name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"create<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

4. Test your filter.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each filter you create, take a minute to test it. If you\u2019re satisfied it\u2019s accurate, click Save<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filtering Spam Bots on a WordPress Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Setting up filters within Google Analytics can feel pretty complicated. But if you have Google Analytics set up<\/a> for your WordPress website, you have an easier solution you can take advantage of: plugins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a number of WordPress plugins devoted to blocking referral spam, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n