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Google as referring domain

Reporting & Analytics
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  • accessKellyOCG
    accessKellyOCG last edited by Jun 5, 2013, 11:17 AM

    Hi all,

    a colleague asked a question, which I could not answer (never even noticed this "problem") 😞

    When we are logged into our GA account and go the referring domains section, we find Google. I always thought that these visitors came via Google Image Search, but not all of them do.

    Most of them come via "/imgres", but some come via "/" (always thought that "/" was the homepage?), "/url" and "//"

    Maybe I am just stupid, but honestly I could not explain what these strings mean... or how these visitors landed on our site...

    Can you help me???

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Mike_Davis
      Mike_Davis @accessKellyOCG last edited by Jun 5, 2013, 12:11 PM Jun 5, 2013, 12:11 PM

      Considering that (not provided) comprises 75% of my search queries, do you really think that Google will be transparent with this?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • accessKellyOCG
        accessKellyOCG @Mike_Davis last edited by Jun 5, 2013, 11:39 AM Jun 5, 2013, 11:39 AM

        Hi Mike,

        before I posted my question I searched on Google concerning this topic and read your quote.

        It helps, but I would like to know the exact Google "source" these referrals come from...

        /imgres = Google Image Search

        / = ?

        // = ?

        /url = ?

        but thanks for your effort 🙂

        Mike_Davis 1 Reply Last reply Jun 5, 2013, 12:11 PM Reply Quote 0
        • Mike_Davis
          Mike_Davis last edited by Jun 5, 2013, 11:30 AM Jun 5, 2013, 11:30 AM

          This is from Google:

          Not all referrals from Google.com domains come through organic search or AdWords ad listings. Referrals may come from a variety of sources, including Google Groups posts, base.google.com listings, or static pages on related Google sites. Such visits are tagged as [referral] instead of [organic] or [cpc].

          cited: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1011811?hl=en

          I hope that helps!

          accessKellyOCG 1 Reply Last reply Jun 5, 2013, 11:39 AM Reply Quote 1
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