lucy24 - 10:31 pm on Dec 27, 2011 (gmt 0)

Preview isn't a robot. You and I may think it is, but g### has decided otherwise. After a few weeks of "Which part of 'Disallow: /piwik' did you not understand?" I caved in and went to a more robust

RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^(207\.46|157\.5[4-9]|157\.60|209\.8[45])\. [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} [Bb]ot
RewriteRule piwik\.js - [F]

I couldn't tell you offhand what each of those IPs belongs to, but Preview must be in there somewhere.

I think the idea is that any linked javascript affects the appearance of the page, so an accurate preview has to include it-- even if it doesn't affect the page. D'you suppose they know enough to stay out of GA?

For a while I was simply blocking preview, because I didn't see it doing any good. When you're small, previews are loaded up on the spot, not pulled out of an existing archive. I've tested this. And if the Preview isn't immediately followed by a visit to the page, why bother?

Food for thought, there. What types of pages benefit from a preview? Different thread.