Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#11

Post by fiatjaf » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:39 PM UTC

goferito wrote: post #6

dwcmpfrt wrote: post #4

Well, let's see. A bunch of phds who still can't get support right, or find a viable business beyond the stench of adverts. Yes, I would be suspicious of GA as well...

Is there any other reliable tool I can use instead?

Shameless plug: my web-analytics-as-a-couchapp https://www.smileupps.com/store/apps/microanalytics

Also vulnerable, but at least there are so few users that no one would bother to fake its events.

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#12

Post by sajonara » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:45 PM UTC

goferito wrote: post #6

dwcmpfrt wrote: post #4

Well, let's see. A bunch of phds who still can't get support right, or find a viable business beyond the stench of adverts. Yes, I would be suspicious of GA as well...

Is there any other reliable tool I can use instead?

You could use Piwik, it's Open Source and you can self-host it. http://piwik.org/

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#13

Post by desdiv » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:45 PM UTC

fasouto wrote: post #5

Nice experiment! Link for the lazy: https://github.com/goferito/gapoc I guess SEO people already know this, the question is: can you trust a SEO consultant?

Only if he's the top search result for "SEO consultant".

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#14

Post by Mahn » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:46 PM UTC

sjs382 wrote: post #10

You can't know. GA spam is rampant, more so via referer spam than anything else.

This is the correct answer. You may be able to filter data to some extent in the dashboard using special views, but if you want a 100% guarantee that your data stays reliable, currently your best bet is not to use GA, or at least complement it with another tool.

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#15

Post by tomclaus » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:48 PM UTC

You can use a GA Filter based on your domain name. It solved my problem.

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#16

Post by tP5n » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:49 PM UTC

goferito wrote: post #6

dwcmpfrt wrote: post #4

Well, let's see. A bunch of phds who still can't get support right, or find a viable business beyond the stench of adverts. Yes, I would be suspicious of GA as well...

Is there any other reliable tool I can use instead?

piwik? https://piwik.org/

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#17

Post by gprasanth » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

kelseydh wrote: post #8

We just ran into a problem with Google Analytics trying to track opening clicks by sending an event to GA. Turns out when you click a link to open it, the browser page would load before the event to GA could be sent. Screwed up a huge amount of our click tracking data on GA.

window.addEventListener('unload', function () { var now = Date.now(); while (Date.now() < now + 300) {} });

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#18

Post by goferito » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:55 PM UTC

tomclaus wrote: post #15

You can use a GA Filter based on your domain name. It solved my problem.

But you can also fake the domain don't you? By changing the /etc/hosts or a personal DNS server..

Anyway, looks like the best option.

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#19

Post by achairapart » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:55 PM UTC

Experienced this a few times when somebody cloned my whole website, GA tracking code included.

Also, with the increasing spam coming from referrer and the new trend of adv blocking plugins (they block GA too), Google Analytics has become less reliable than ever.

However, you can setup open source analytics software on your own server, like [Piwik](http://piwik.org/).

Re: Ask HN: How can I trust Google Analytics?

#20

Post by lpsz » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 2:59 PM UTC

kelseydh wrote: post #8

We just ran into a problem with Google Analytics trying to track opening clicks by sending an event to GA. Turns out when you click a link to open it, the browser page would load before the event to GA could be sent. Screwed up a huge amount of our click tracking data on GA.

Why not just use an event handler which sends the event to GA, and after that, follows your link? They provide a callback and everything...

   var outboundLink = function(url) {
      ga('send', 'event', 'button', 'click', {'hitCallback':
         function () {
            document.location = url;
         }
      });
   }

   Foo

See: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection...