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  4. Whats 'Other' in Google Analytics (in Acquisition)

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Whats 'Other' in Google Analytics (in Acquisition)

Reporting & Analytics
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  • Dan-Lawrence
    Dan-Lawrence last edited by Mar 26, 2014, 1:36 PM

    When i look in GA under Channels (under Acquisition) 'other' is listed

    What is 'other' ?

    I have been told its other unidentified channels as they did not allow 3rd party cookies or surfers were in anonymous/private mode.   Other is usually organic traffic that couldn't be identified for the aformentioned reasons. This data is encrypted and available but it violates Google guidelines as they are not allowed to pass personal info//data to third parties so it is automatically filtered. But they are not 'Not Provided' (since that still shows under organic) but is usually/mainly some form of organic visits.

    Hence Seo can take credit for much of that traffic, is this correct ?

    Many Thanks

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • insiderockstar
      insiderockstar @katemorris last edited by Jan 30, 2019, 12:27 AM Jan 30, 2019, 12:27 AM

      https://look.djfiln.com/offer?prod=3&ref=5163496&sub_id=ANYTHING

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • topic:timeago_earlier,8 months
      • AndaazFashion
        AndaazFashion last edited by Jun 4, 2018, 11:44 PM Jun 2, 2018, 3:05 AM

        Hello All,

        We are not running any paid ads, our all traffic from organic search and social media, referral sites where we promote our website organically then why we are seeing this "other" option in GA. Most of the conversions we are getting from "other" and confused from which source of medium getting this traffic.

        Sunil Kumar

        KM: Edited to remove unnecessary link

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • topic:timeago_earlier,2 years
        • Sable_Group
          Sable_Group @katemorris last edited by Jan 28, 2016, 4:55 AM Jan 28, 2016, 4:55 AM

          Thanks Kate!

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • katemorris
            katemorris @Sable_Group last edited by Jan 28, 2016, 1:21 AM Jan 28, 2016, 1:21 AM

            It's going to depend on how your tracking is setup but out of the box, GA's channel for Social is anything that is tagged as social. Any untagged campaigns, including social ones, are going to be put into Other.

            Sable_Group 1 Reply Last reply Jan 28, 2016, 4:55 AM Reply Quote 0
            • Sable_Group
              Sable_Group @katemorris last edited by Jan 27, 2016, 11:30 AM Jan 27, 2016, 11:30 AM

              Thanks Kate. In terms of social search, does this refer to all traffic generated from social media sites? If 'other' is from untagged paid advertising like Facebook, then 'social search' does not include traffic from FB ads?

              katemorris 1 Reply Last reply Jan 28, 2016, 1:21 AM Reply Quote 0
              • topic:timeago_earlier,8 days
              • katemorris
                katemorris @Sable_Group last edited by Jan 19, 2016, 12:34 PM Jan 19, 2016, 12:34 PM

                It's traditionally untagged paid advertising like Facebook. Paid Search is typically campaigns from AdCenter or AdWords, the search engines themselves.

                Sable_Group 1 Reply Last reply Jan 27, 2016, 11:30 AM Reply Quote 1
                • Sable_Group
                  Sable_Group last edited by Jan 18, 2016, 7:41 AM Jan 18, 2016, 7:41 AM

                  How does 'other' differ to paid search?

                  katemorris 1 Reply Last reply Jan 19, 2016, 12:34 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • topic:timeago_earlier,8 days
                  • katemorris
                    katemorris @betterlinksmedia last edited by Jan 10, 2016, 1:36 AM Jan 10, 2016, 1:36 AM

                    It is most likely the names of campaigns you might have set up. It's best to discussion with your marketing and advertising departments.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • betterlinksmedia
                      betterlinksmedia last edited by Jan 7, 2016, 4:48 PM Jan 7, 2016, 4:48 PM

                      I am seeing a significant number of sessions under "other" as well. and when I go into Other for details, I see 2 entries - cd and DC. Can any one elaborate on what these mean.

                      Thanks!

                      katemorris 1 Reply Last reply Jan 10, 2016, 1:36 AM Reply Quote 0
                      • topic:timeago_earlier,12 months
                      • Dan-Lawrence
                        Dan-Lawrence @GeoffKenyon last edited by Jan 27, 2015, 2:18 PM Jan 27, 2015, 2:18 PM

                        great thanks for that additional info Geoff !

                        all best

                        dan

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • GeoffKenyon
                          GeoffKenyon last edited by Jan 27, 2015, 2:04 PM Jan 27, 2015, 2:04 PM

                          +1 Kate

                          To add on what Kate said, you can typically get a little more data to help you pinpoint what it is by clicking on other and then looking at secondary dimensions such as medium, ad distribution network, placement domain, campaign, etc.

                          Dan-Lawrence 1 Reply Last reply Jan 27, 2015, 2:18 PM Reply Quote 3
                          • topic:timeago_earlier,9 months
                          • Dan-Lawrence
                            Dan-Lawrence @katemorris last edited by May 13, 2014, 10:33 AM May 13, 2014, 10:33 AM

                            cool cheers 🙂

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • katemorris
                              katemorris @Dan-Lawrence last edited by May 9, 2014, 1:07 PM May 9, 2014, 1:07 PM

                              PLA = Product Listing Ads 🙂

                              Dan-Lawrence 1 Reply Last reply May 13, 2014, 10:33 AM Reply Quote 1
                              • Dan-Lawrence
                                Dan-Lawrence @katemorris last edited by May 9, 2014, 6:46 AM May 9, 2014, 6:46 AM

                                many thnaks for further comments Kate

                                Sorry but whats PLA ?

                                No but i will now 🙂

                                All Best

                                Dasn

                                katemorris 1 Reply Last reply May 9, 2014, 1:07 PM Reply Quote 0
                                • katemorris
                                  katemorris @Dan-Lawrence last edited by May 9, 2014, 6:46 AM May 6, 2014, 1:18 PM

                                  Paid is typically AdWords and AdCenter, paid search things. But stuff like Reddit advertising, Facebook, Twitter, and other display advertising, and maybe PLA based advertising (that might be your Google), is Other Advertising.

                                  When you click into Google, have you added a second metric of something like destination URL to see where the traffic is going? That might give you some clues.

                                  Dan-Lawrence 1 Reply Last reply May 9, 2014, 6:46 AM Reply Quote 1
                                  • Dan-Lawrence
                                    Dan-Lawrence @katemorris last edited by May 6, 2014, 1:16 PM May 6, 2014, 1:16 PM

                                    isnt cpc type activity going to show in Paid search ?

                                    when i click on 'other' within channels it shows 4 sub channels no 1 is Google and the others are know activity like Buffer.

                                    When i click on Google there's no further breakdown apart from the traffic details (sessions/goals etc).

                                    katemorris 1 Reply Last reply May 6, 2014, 1:18 PM Reply Quote 0
                                    • katemorris
                                      katemorris @Dan-Lawrence last edited by May 6, 2014, 1:07 PM May 6, 2014, 1:07 PM

                                      Not sure. All organic search traffic should be going into Organic and Other is really set to CPC type tracking. Can you list what the other section says for you?

                                      Dan-Lawrence 1 Reply Last reply May 6, 2014, 1:16 PM Reply Quote 0
                                      • Dan-Lawrence
                                        Dan-Lawrence @katemorris last edited by May 6, 2014, 1:05 PM May 6, 2014, 1:05 PM

                                        ok thanks Kate

                                        Seems a tad strange though since all known paid channels being reported elsewhere.

                                        It would be good to know if theres a way to find out whats causing it since all paid campaigns, PPC, emails, display, etc etc being reported in other places and traffic from this 'Google Other' source is 4x current organic search traffic

                                        All Best

                                        Dan

                                        katemorris 1 Reply Last reply May 6, 2014, 1:07 PM Reply Quote 1
                                        • katemorris
                                          katemorris @Dan-Lawrence last edited by May 6, 2014, 12:31 PM May 6, 2014, 12:31 PM

                                          Most of what you see in other is from paid sources, even traffic from Google. I would not count the traffic you see in Other as natural search traffic unless you are 100% sure. Everything in my various client's Other categories are paid sources.

                                          Dan-Lawrence 1 Reply Last reply May 6, 2014, 1:05 PM Reply Quote 0
                                          • Dan-Lawrence
                                            Dan-Lawrence @katemorris last edited by May 6, 2014, 9:13 AM May 6, 2014, 9:13 AM

                                            what about what these guys are saying:

                                            http://moz.com/community/q/analytics-other

                                            katemorris 1 Reply Last reply May 6, 2014, 12:31 PM Reply Quote 0
                                            • topic:timeago_earlier,20 days
                                            • Dan-Lawrence
                                              Dan-Lawrence last edited by Apr 16, 2014, 12:45 PM Apr 16, 2014, 12:45 PM

                                              Many Thanks for that Kate !

                                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                              • katemorris
                                                katemorris last edited by Apr 16, 2014, 12:45 PM Apr 16, 2014, 12:31 PM

                                                According to Google, Other is actually not organic. It's other advertising channels. See the link below and how they define other.

                                                https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3297892?hl=en&ref_topic=3125765

                                                Dan-Lawrence insiderockstar 2 Replies Last reply Jan 30, 2019, 12:27 AM Reply Quote 2
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