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Analytics & GTM Developer

Optimizer Troubleshooter

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Category | Google Analytics
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If you suddenly had a spike of organic/keyword traffic in your Google Analytics for no apparent reason, it is probably a bot or spam.

Spam in GA (or any Analytics tool for that matter) is not a new thing, but most of the time we see it as a referral where it is more visible than the organic search reports.

Example of organic search keyword spam in Google Analytics

How to know if the spike is real traffic or spam?

A difference with common bot direct traffic, this type of spam is very easy to identify, you just simply have to go to the Keyword report. If you see a keyword or URL that doesn't have anything to do with your site like www.internettraffic.club then it is spam.

Google Analytics Working in a Solution for the Spam

A common technique used by spammers is to use URL shorteners like bit.ly or cut.ly, to camouflage the URL, that way the user is less suspicious of the link and opens it.

Here are a few examples of the latest "google / organic keyword spam" found in GA:

trafficbot.lifetrafficbot.livebot-traffic.icu
bot-traffic.xyzbottraffic.liveamazon
traffic bot tinyurl.com/urr7y6cffree seo traffic shorturl.at/uySZ8www.internettraffic.club 
cheap seo traffic cutt.ly/NlHolBXbit.ly/3tIoKz1cutt.ly/vxg1szE
www.trafficspace.clubwww.trafficbox.clubwww.trafficart.club
www.trafficstar.clubwww.trafficfit.clubwww.trafficnow.club
cutt.ly/yxlHTUirb.gy/ap0kn8 www.trafficguide.club
gestyy.com/eyzbJ1 bit.ly/acureforgottenbit.ly/2TPse5a
bit.ly/2SEf3l8rb.gy/rjcw8ztrafficreviews.club
trafficstudio.cluboptions.xyztrafficbot4free.club
getbottraffic4free.clubgetbottraffic4free.xyztraffic24.xyz
bottraffic032.xyzbottraffic921.xyzbottraffic873.xyz
bottraffic4free.xyzbottraffic249.xyzbottraffic329.xyz
bottraffic057.xyzbottraffic143.xyzbottraffic113.xyz
bottraffic534.xyztraffichub.xyz trafficexpert.xyz
trafficonline.xyztrafficgroup.xyztrafficgroup.xyz
If you see any other spam that is not here let me know in the comments so I can add it to the list.
Note: This goes without saying but the spam is not coming from bit.ly or the other URL shorteners, it is the spammer that is using these services to hide their real URL. In most cases, the URL shortener service shuts down the spam link within a few days.

How to efficiently filter and remove organic / keyword spam in GA

The most simple solution would be to create a keyword filter in Google Analytics, however, this would be highly inefficient because by the time you apply that filter the spammer most likely already changed the keyword. This is because GA shuts down those keywords within a few days.

So instead of filtering each individual spammer, I prepared a set of optimized filters that will prevent a lot of the spam without having to constantly make updates:

A filter to block future hits and a segment to clean historical data

  1. (not set) browser filter - This will block future hits from most of the organic search spam.
  2. Advanced segment - This segment will clean your historical data, filters only work onwards.

 

Additional measures to keep clean your Analytics

The solutions above will clean traffic from this source, however, there are many other threats that can affect the quality of your data.

Here are a few more guides do to help you achieve the best data quality possible:

If you need help dealing with this or any other Analytics configuration don't hesitate to contact me.