Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • SEO Q&A
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Reporting & Analytics
    4. Totally Remove "localhost" entries from Google Analytics

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Totally Remove "localhost" entries from Google Analytics

    Reporting & Analytics
    5
    15
    12779
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • Robert-B
      Robert-B last edited by

      Hello All,

      In Google Analytics I see a bunch of traffic coming from "localhost:4444 / referral".

      I had tried once before to create a filter to exclude this traffic source, but obviously I did it wrong since it's still showing up.

      Here is the filter I have currently:

      Filter Name: Exclude localhost
      Filter Type: Custom filter > Exclude
      Filter Field: Referral
      Filter Pattern:  .localhost:4444.
      Case Sensitive: No

      Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong and give me a push in the right direction?

      Thanks in advance!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Saphera
        Saphera last edited by

        The filter I used a long time ago that worked at the time was a hostname one using (.?localhost.?)

        Filter Name: Exclude localhost
        Filter Type: Custom filter > Hostname
        Filter Pattern: (.?localhost.?)
        Case Sensitive: No

        Now I block via code so I'm not sure if this still works - feel free to try.  Also, I'm not sure why the filter uses both * and ? since the star should be inclusive of ? wildcard but I can no longer find the source.

        Good luck

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Malx
          Malx last edited by

          Hi Robert,

          did you resolve this problem as I have exactly the same thing showing on my analytics too and it is driving me mad?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Robert-B
            Robert-B last edited by

            Does anyone have any ideas?

            I'm still totally stumped!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Robert-B
              Robert-B last edited by

              Does anyone have any ideas?

              Having this silly "localhost:4444" entry is skewing all of my numbers and no matter what I try, it won't seem to filter it out.

              Any help is very much appreciated!

              Thanks!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Robert-B
                Robert-B @mikecp last edited by

                Thanks Mike.

                At least I know I'm not alone in being totally & completely baffled!

                Hopefully someone else can give me a push in the right direction.

                Cheers!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mikecp
                  mikecp @Robert-B last edited by

                  I'm sort of baffled, myself. I see no reason why this would be unfilterable. I'm marking this as an unanswered question, hopefully someone comes to our rescue here.

                  Robert-B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Robert-B
                    Robert-B last edited by

                    Putting the filter pattern of "localhost" did not work... sadly.

                    I still see "localhost:4444 / referral" in my reports.

                    There must be a way to filter this out.... I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem (or at least I hope not!)

                    Any other ideas?

                    Thanks in advance.

                    mikecp 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Robert-B
                      Robert-B @Robert-B last edited by

                      There was no real reason I wasn't just trying localhost.

                      I just thought we needed some other parameters on there... but clearly those weren't working.

                      I just updated the filter now and I'll check tomorrow's data to see if the answer was really this simple.

                      Thanks!

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • mikecp
                        mikecp @Robert-B last edited by

                        Was there any reason you're not trying just

                        localhost

                        as the filter pattern? No asterisks, quotes, backslashes or anything?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Robert-B
                          Robert-B @Robert-B last edited by

                          Unfortunately that did not work.

                          I still see this in my referral reports:

                          localhost:4444 / referral

                          Just to confirm, the filter I set is:

                          Filter Name: Exclude localhost
                          Filter Type: Custom Filter > Exclude
                          Filter Field: Referral
                          Filter Pattern: localhost*
                          Case Sensitive: No

                          Any other ideas? I'll try anything. 🙂

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Host1
                            Host1 @Robert-B last edited by

                            Do you have a update on this? Did it work?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Robert-B
                              Robert-B @Host1 last edited by

                              If I put localhost then I get a "Regular expression is invalid" error.

                              I'll put: localhost*

                              I'll watch it for a couple days and see what happens.

                              Thanks!

                              Host1 Robert-B mikecp 4 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Host1
                                Host1 last edited by

                                1: the "." in front of "*localhost" might break the filter i guess. The same goes for the "." after "4444".

                                2: Have you tried localhost*  or localhost ?

                                Robert-B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • Robert-B
                                  Robert-B last edited by

                                  Thanks for the link... this is kind of what I had followed earlier, but it still doesn't work.

                                  In my original question you can see the current filter I have setup.

                                  Yet, for some reason this is not blocking what I need since I still see "localhost:4444 / referral" in my reports.

                                  Any other ideas?

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • 1 / 1
                                  • First post
                                    Last post

                                  Got a burning SEO question?

                                  Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                                  Start my free trial


                                  Browse Questions

                                  Explore more categories

                                  • Moz Tools

                                    Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                                  • SEO Tactics

                                    Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                                  • Community

                                    Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                                  • Digital Marketing

                                    Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                                  • Research & Trends

                                    Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                                  • Support

                                    Connect on product support and feature requests.

                                  • See all categories

                                  Related Questions

                                  • brettmandoes

                                    How to Diagnose "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed" in Google Search Console

                                    The new Google Search Console gives a ton of information about which pages were excluded and why, but one that I'm struggling with is "crawled - currently not indexed". I have some clients that have fallen into this pit and I've identified one reason why it's occurring on some of them - they have multiple websites covering the same information (local businesses) - but others I'm completely flummoxed. Does anyone have any experience figuring this one out?

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | brettmandoes
                                    2
                                  • Cocoonfxmedia

                                    Google Analytics - Average Position

                                    Hi Just trying to get some clarity on Google Analytics Average Positions in "Aquistions/Search Engine Optimisation". For a very competitive keyword Google Analytics is saying i am on average position of 6.  Is this Page 6?  I am assuming position six would be 1.6?

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | Cocoonfxmedia
                                    0
                                  • geckonm

                                    Tracking time spent on a section of a website in Google Analytics

                                    Hi, I've been asked by a client to track time spent or number of pages visited on a specific section of their website using Google Analytics but can't see how to do this. For example, they have a "golf" section within their site and want to measure how many people either visit 5 page or more within the golf section or spend at least 6 minutes browsing the various golf section pages. Can anyone advise how if this can be done, and if so, how I go about it. Thanks

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | geckonm
                                    0
                                  • Rubix

                                    Inurl:login.aspx + "register" "retrieve password" + intext:employment

                                    Someone came to my website with this keyword a few times, I was just wondering if anyone knows what that is? inurl:login.aspx + "register" "retrieve password" + intext:employment

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | Rubix
                                    0
                                  • BigBlaze205

                                    Google Analytics - Keywords (not set) or ( not provided) WHY???

                                    In Analytics, most of my visitors are landing on my home page, but when trying to see wich keywords they use, most of them are: (not set) or ( not provided) See screencast: http://screencast.com/t/AKwPW76qLVsN Can you tell why? What is going on? Is there a way to solve this? Thank you, BigBlaze

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | BigBlaze205
                                    0
                                  • Towelsrus

                                    How do I manually add transactions to Google Analytics

                                    We are seeing Google Analytic's drop transaction on our site so therefore all the figures are skewed. Is there a way I can manually add transactions to GA to cover the missing one?

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | Towelsrus
                                    0
                                  • ocelot

                                    Weird info from google analytics?

                                    Hi Could anyone explain what these visits are in Google Analytics?  Under traffic sources and organic I am seeing lots of entries with data like below.  Any ideas what kind of traffic this is?  Is it a bot and if so what is their purpose of it and is it recommended that you block it? Pages/Visit 1.00 Avg. Time on Site 00:00:00 % New Visits : 100% Bounce Rate: 100.00% Many Thanks

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | ocelot
                                    0
                                  • pwpaneuro

                                    Custom Variables to track Vimeo plays on website with Google Analytics?

                                    Hello Everyone, I'm trying to track how many times a Vimeo video is played on my site via GA. Does any of you have any knowledge of how can this be achieved? I've read the documentation and came up with this: After the iframe embed i insert this: Of course the GA is loaded in the header. Does not work, at least i cant see anything in analytics. I have set up the segment as per the attached image. Thanks in advance! Alex E6XnO.png

                                    Reporting & Analytics | | pwpaneuro
                                    0

                                  Get started with Moz Pro!

                                  Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                                  Start my free trial
                                  Products
                                  • Moz Pro
                                  • Moz Local
                                  • Moz API
                                  • Moz Data
                                  • STAT
                                  • Product Updates
                                  Moz Solutions
                                  • SMB Solutions
                                  • Agency Solutions
                                  • Enterprise Solutions
                                  Free SEO Tools
                                  • Domain Authority Checker
                                  • Link Explorer
                                  • Keyword Explorer
                                  • Competitive Research
                                  • Brand Authority Checker
                                  • Local Citation Checker
                                  • MozBar Extension
                                  • MozCast
                                  Resources
                                  • Blog
                                  • SEO Learning Center
                                  • Help Hub
                                  • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                                  • How-to Guides
                                  • Moz Academy
                                  • API Docs
                                  About Moz
                                  • About
                                  • Team
                                  • Careers
                                  • Contact
                                  Why Moz
                                  • Case Studies
                                  • Testimonials
                                  Get Involved
                                  • Become an Affiliate
                                  • MozCon
                                  • Webinars
                                  • Practical Marketer Series
                                  • MozPod
                                  Connect with us

                                  Contact the Help team

                                  Join our newsletter
                                  Moz logo
                                  © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                                  • Accessibility
                                  • Terms of Use
                                  • Privacy

                                  Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.