Google Analytics Custom Filter
-
Hello,
Quick question, when I create a custom filter on a profile that already has data collected will that filter apply to already collected data or will the filter only apply from the day it was created?
Am doing a custom exclude IP filter.
Much thanks,
Davinia -
Great response, thanks Paul. That's answers all my questions!
-
A profile filter will definitely only affect the data collected after the filter was put in place, Davinia. There's no way for Google Analytics to retroactively apply it. It'll take 4 to 8 hours for you see data that the filter has affected as well - that's just the lag-time on GA's reporting.
If you're starting to apply custom filters, I would STRONGLY recommend that you also create a new profile that will continue to collect RAW data for the site. Just create an additional profile and never apply any filters to it, (You can use the Create Duplicate Profile button on your existing profile to make it easy)
That way if anything ever goes wrong with your active profile - like an accidentally misconfigured filter which irretrievably discards data - you'll still have a source of the original data. Because any data filtered out by a custom filter can also never be recovered just by removing the filter.
Just like custom filters, the new profile will only contain data from the date it was created, so best to get it set up now, not at some point in the future when you might already have a problem.
Lastly, I'd suggest you add an Annotation in your GA profile marking when you applied the filter. It's a great way to keep track of changes you've made that might affect results. Much easier than trying to figure out later what you might have done at a particular time that caused significant changes in results. (Useful for adding campaign launches, unusual media mentions/external links etc too.)
Paul
-
Thanks Jared,
Yes I do need to use a filter over an advanced segment but the article doesn't tell me if I can see the data straight away (it does for segments but not filters).
-
As far as I know - profile filters still do not work historically. See the "Differences Between Advanced Segments and Filtered Profiles" here:
http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033017
Update: @Paul - couldn't have said it better - creating a new profile that collects raw data is excellent advice as well.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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.
Related Questions
-
How can I overwrite previously imported cost data in Google Analytics?
I choose the overwrite option but it keeps adding the costs to the existing costs. When i select that radio button and click done, that option does not appear on the summary screen. That section next to Import Behavior is blank.
Reporting & Analytics | | JGB5550 -
How to Analysis which category gives me more revenue from google analytic?
Hello Experts, For Ecommerce site we do have navigation path like Main Category - Subcategory - Products. That means Men as Main Category and then subcategory Cloths, shoes, bags then product in each subcategory. After implementing enhance ecommerce https://developers.google.com/tag-manager/enhanced-ecommerce#product-clicks I am getting this report - "Product Category (Enhanced E-commerce)" in Product Performance section. Now my query is my all products are linked with sub category i.e. cloths, shoes, bags etc so in Product Category (Enhanced E-commerce) I can see Revenue, transaction related to Cloths, shoes, bags etc but how to judge performance of Main categories like Men, Women, Children etc? Because google works with this method i think - name': productObj.name, // Name or ID is required.
Reporting & Analytics | | dsouzac
'id': productObj.id,
'price': productObj.price,
'brand': productObj.brand,
'category': productObj.cat,
'variant': productObj.variant,
'position': productObj.position0 -
Google Tag Manager chrome plugin to diagnose Analytics issues
Hi I've just used Google Tag Manager chrome plugin to look at possible analytics issues on a clients site and it has reported that its Analytics ID is being tracked twice. 1 is Universal and the other is Universal Asynchronous And when i click the question mark next to the 'Where to Optimise' info in GTM this page is displayed with teh following info highlighted: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gajs/asyncMigrationExamples ga.js is a legacy library. If you are starting a new implementation we recommend you use the latest version of this library, analytics.js. For exisiting implementations, learn how to migrate from ga.js to analytics.js. Since both versions seem to be on there surely i dont need to migrate but just delete the old non-asynchronous version ? Or do i need do anything else or additional ? All Best Dan
Reporting & Analytics | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
How do I setup a logged-in vs. non logged-in custom variable in Google Analytics?
I found an example of the snippet to use: __gaq.push(['.setCustomVar,
Reporting & Analytics | | Evan34
1, // first slot
'user-type', // custom variable name
'visitor', // custom variable value
2 // custom variable scope - session-level
]); Once the visitor logs into your website, we change this code, accordingly: __gaq.push(['.setCustomVar,
1, // first slot
'user-type', // custom variable name
'regular-user', // custom variable value
2 // custom variable scope - session-level
]); How does the code know to change from 'visitor' to 'regular user' once a user logs in? Is the snippet only placed on the login page?0 -
Google Analytics Code
We have a quick question about our Google Analytics code: We recently updated to a re-marketing Analytics code, and some of our traffic numbers seem to be off by a bit. I used the Google Tag Assistant Chrome Extension today, and noticed that it's finding our old Analytics code on our pages, but it's coming up as an error due to "no HTTP Response". I am attempting to remove this code from the website, but it is nowhere to be found in the HTML coding. Only the current one is there. So I'm wondering if this second Analytics code is effecting our traffic and reporting, even if the code is currently non-functional? and if it is, how could I go about removing it if it's not currently in our HTML? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | PlanetDISH0 -
Setting up goals - google analytics
Hi Im new user google analytics I would like to set up goal for website. I asked to basic questions: What are my bussiness objectives? Answer:make the visitor to click on a advertisment (affiliate links and affiliate banners) to be redirected to company website to finish purchase. How to set up goals? How can I track ads (affiliate banners and affiliate links) on my website?
Reporting & Analytics | | info_tipovanie-stavkovanie.com0 -
Setting up goals in Google Analytics
Hello! This question is seems so obvious that I'm also ashamed to ask... almost. If the goal of a website is to have a visitor complete a contact form, when setting up the Goal in Google Analytics (as a "URL destination") the URL of choice would be the form's thank you page, correct? Because that's the page that proves the visitor completed the task we want them the achieve. Right? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | SmileMoreSEO
Erik0 -
Analytics package beside google analytics
Hi, What analytics package can i use to track ecommerce transaction besides gogole analytics that is free of charge? Thanks Arthur
Reporting & Analytics | | VivaArturo0