• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness Service
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

traffic analysis tools

Home » Web Analytics » How To: Filter Referrer Spam in Google Analytics

How To: Filter Referrer Spam in Google Analytics

Posted By Bill Hartzer on April 21, 2015at 2:10 pm

Well, apparently there is a new referrer spammer out there, called 4Webmasters.org that has started showing up in Google Analytics as a referral source. If you suddenly see an increase in traffic on your site, check to see which sites are the referral sources. Hopefully the source of new traffic to your site is something positive, like better search engine rankings. But, it might actually be referrer spam. I noticed that 4Webmasters.org just started a lot of referral spam in the past few days, as I’m seeing it in the Google Analytics accounts of several different sites.

Your traffic could look like this:

4webmasters.org referral spam

If it looks like that in Google Analytics, first go to the Acquisition section and then click on “Source/Medium” in Google Analytics. There is a list of referral sources (the sites that referred traffic to you or the sites that people clicked on to get to your site). If you see 4Wwebmasters.org then that is FAKED, SPAM traffic. They want to you check out their site, which is a “rank tracking” type of software. They have some sort of bot that is going to your site making you think that there were a lot of visitors from their site to your site. But there isn’t. That’s how they “advertise” their service. Pretty shady, if you ask me. And it’s just flat-out wrong.

If you see this, then you need to filter out that traffic so that it doesn’t show up in your Google Analytics reports anymore. Here is how to filter referrer spam sites that you are seeing in Google Analytics.

In Google Analytics, at the top you’ll see “Admin”. If you have the correct type of access to Google Analytics (you are an admin level) then select the right account and property. In this case below I’m choosing my billhartzer.com site. Then click on Filters:

google analytics choosing filters

Once you select Filters, then you can set up a new filter, like this:

google analytics excluding referrer spam

Make sure you save the filter and you might want to test it (you can verify to make sure that the filter is set up correctly).

That’s it! If you see any other referral spam sites or sites you would like to exclude, you can add more filters.

Filed Under: Web Analytics

traffic analysis tools

Listen to "Digital Marketing with Bill Hartzer" on Spreaker.

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management.

Recent Posts

  • Travis Bliffen on Link Building and Link Building Strategies April 6, 2021
  • Minimizing the Risk of Having Your Domain Name Stolen March 17, 2021
  • Beware of Google Ads Email Phishing Attempts March 9, 2021
  • Rebranding Your Business with the Brand Doctor Henry Kaminski, Jr. March 4, 2021
  • Moz Announces Speakers for 16th Annual MozCon Virtual Conference March 2, 2021
  • RightoftheDot Live Online Domain Auction February 25 February 18, 2021
  • Jabez LeBret on Digital PR, Journalism, and Media Coverage February 5, 2021
  • Someone Stole My Domain Name: Here’s What You Do February 1, 2021
  • 23 Top Level Domains TLDs Up for Auction January 27, 2021
  • GotConn Privacy Search Engine Launches January 26, 2021
  • Andrew Muller on Testing Google Ads Using Facebook Ads January 15, 2021
  • Mike Rhodes from Web Savvy On Google Ads January 8, 2021
  • How to Opt Out of Google Analytics December 16, 2020
  • Majestic Just Changed SEO and Linking Forever December 15, 2020
  • Yext Consumer Search Trend Predictions for 2020 December 8, 2020
  • SearchBox Launches SearchAI SmartSuggest, SearchAI Answers and SearchAI Personalization December 7, 2020
  • Google Poly is Shutting Down December 2, 2020
  • Domain Name Brokers Put FFF.com and HHH.com Domains Up for Sale December 1, 2020
  • Google Webmaster Tools Moves Twitter Account November 11, 2020
  • Email Deliverability, Setting Up DMARC, DKIM, and SPF on Your Domain October 29, 2020

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Phil Drinkwater
Dixon Jones

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (19)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (12)
  • Domain Names (201)
  • Google (228)
  • Internet Marketing (24)
  • Internet Usage (84)
  • Link Building (52)
  • Local Search (38)
  • Marketing (179)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (2)
  • Podcast (11)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (9)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (48)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (19)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (156)
  • Search Engines (203)
  • Social Media (187)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (16)




Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2021 by Bill Hartzer and Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
Go to mobile version