Spam referrals cause metrics in Google Web Analytics to be skewed. The skewed data will make it hard to make proper decisions based on skewed metrics. As of the time of this writing, the Spam referrals are reportedly not actually causing any problems with architecture of the websites effected and your PPC campaigns are not affected. The three types of garbage visits to a web page are:
- Ghost referrals (never actually visit your site): darador.com, buy-cheap-online.info.
- Fake crawlers: best-seo-solution.com, webmasters.org, blog.ranksonic.com
- Bots and spiders
Google Analytics filters will halt the spam referrals from showing up in your reports, but the existing data will remain on the reports unless filtered out. Below is an example of spam referrals:
To Add the domain exclusion into your primary metrics, go to Audience>Technology>Network. Make sure that you are connected to the correct account if you have multiple accounts.
Click on “Add Referral Exclusion” and add the domain name Spamming.
Setting up Google Analytics to Prevent SPAM Bots
This feature will automatically filter all spiders and bots on the IAB/ABC International Spiders & Bots List from your data. A number of bots and spiders may slip through the list, but usually not for long, and hopefully not long enough to affect your data.
In the Admin Panel, Navigate to the “View Settings.”
Next Check the Box for ALL sites.
