How to Protect Yourself From Bot Traffic

How to Protect Yourself From Bot Traffic

By Laurence Williams   |    February 2, 2021

ANALYTICS

Bad Bots

Bad Bots

When running diagnostics, testing, or optimizing anything web-related, bots are indispensable. But sometimes we come across bots that are harmful and actively working against our clients’ interests and campaign goals.

Fake Traffic in  Google Analytics

Spam bots may appear as referral traffic in your data. They spam your data with false information, skew your bounce rate and event data, and ruin any automated reporting.

Follow these 3 steps to protect your data from bots:

Step 1

Check your source/medium reports for suspect sources. Check for high bounce rates and high volumes. Set up an anomaly alert for when traffic is unusually high.

Step 2

Isolate the Source/Medium for your filter. In View settings, check Exclude all hits from known bots and spiders. Set up View-level exclusion filters to catch bots in your reports.

Step 3

Run a filter verification to ensure you’re excluding the right traffic. Transition to the new Google Analytics program GA4.

Protect Your Paid Traffic

Protect Your Paid Traffic

PPC is competitive, so it’s vital to protect your ad spend from nefarious clicks. Unsure if your PPC campaigns are reaching your authentic audience?