Is GA's new javascript tracking code working fine?

I read about some problems with this code. Have they been fixed?

[aruns]

I was thinking of moving my site to Google's new Javascript tracking code.

I read that some people who upgraded to the javascript tracking code have had problems, what is the latest on this? Has anyone tried this & found it to be working fine?

[aruns]

Has anyone tried the new code? I would appreciate some feedback on this.

[LunaC]

I switched to it on one of my sites and it's tracking fine, I don't have any goals set up and the only filter is my IP, so more complex tracking needs may have issues I'm not seeing.

The only problem I'm having with it is that in my log files I'm seeing quite a few 404's with URLs like:
"GET /myrealfolder/google-analytics.com HTTP/1.1" 404

With the old one however I was seeing a similar problem:
"GET /__utm.gif HTTP/1.1" 404

I have no idea why some browsers are triggering those errors, I've seen them happen to other files on that site that are properly linked, including full, absolute URLs so I'm not sure this is even an G. Analytics issue.

[aruns]

Thanks LunaC. Are you using Ecommerce tracking on your site?

[LunaC]

No I'm not. Hopefully someone with more complex tracking will let you know how it's going for them.

[BillyS]

No other experiences, I was wondering if it was worth switching codes.

[aruns]

Update - For my new site I used the new ga.js code. So far I haven't noticed any problems, but my traffic is quite low at the moment. I'm struggling to get e-commerce tracking working smoothly though. Not sure if the problem is with my implementation or Google.

[BradleyT]

100K uniques this month after switching to GA.js at the first of the year. Haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Don't use E-commerce tracking but do have several goal pages with fixed $$$ amounts.

[webboy1]

Yes, we use the new ecommerce version of the tracking and we are having issues. Mostly it works OK, but about 25% of our transactions (on the main transactions page) are coming through with £0 values. However, when clicking on the transaction to view the details, we can see the products listed and their individual values.

We are also seeing some differences in qauntity. We've started recording the ecommerce code that our site has generated and are comparing it with what Analytics eventually reports. Interestingly, the log suggests the code is working perfectly, but analytics isn't always outputting what the code has generated.

We've run a number of tests and are now in talks with Google about this. There are quite a few threads now appearing online with people highlighting similar issues.

Are these the sorts of issues you are experiencing.

[wsmeyer]

I'm in the same boat. Some days it reports perfectly, other days half the orders show $0 revenue. I'm extremely disappointed with the lack of support from Google on this, I reported it to them on Jan 10th and after 18 days we still haven't gotten past the point where they are blaming it on my code.

Before I even contacted Google I started recording the values transmitted to them and everything looks fine - but doesn't show up in the Analytics reporting.

On all transactions, the individual products and revenue are being recorded correctly, it's simply the transaction revenue total that shows $0

William.

[cgrantski]

You may find, as I have, that the numbers for today show up more or less correctly a couple weeks from now.

[webboy1]

Interesting. We did notice not long after we contacted them that most activity on one afternoon was almost perfect, as though something had been flushed. We are wondering if a percentage of transactions are being blocked somehow and, whatever is blocking the, needs manually flushed from time to time.

Showing a few weeks later is OK in some instances, but when your comparing daily performances of various campaigns, waiting a week or 2 really doesn't help.

[annej]

I'm getting some fluky results on the new but I just joined so don't know if it would have happened with the old as well.

Basically in the overlay I'm getting the same number, waaaay over what it should be, on three links. It's as if it's reading three completely different links to different page as if they are all the same one.

[cgrantski]

I've found that these big obvious discrepancies sometimes disappear after a couple weeks, i.e. last week's data may look different, and better, two weeks from now. I don't like this. On the other hand, I'm getting what I paid for.

[webboy1]

I've checked back a few weeks but still see £0 values. The data is there when you click to view the transaction details though, as it always has been.

Oh well, nowt to do but keep checking on it while in conversation with Google.

[pageoneresults]

Is GA's new javascript tracking code working fine?

Not for us it isn't. We are continually getting 404's with the google-analytics.com/ga.js call. A recent response from my programmer in regards to this issue...

It's the javascript not executing properly for them. I'm not sure why it is executing incorrectly. BTW, the proper way should be window.location.protocol.

Below you'll notice that it will append the [ssl....] or [www....] depending on the host. Somehow host value was not set so you get...

<script src='google-anayltics.com/ga.js' type='text'></script>

That's why you have the 404.

We micro-manage 404s and this is a pain in the arse as our mailboxes get diluged with 404 errors throughout the day. :(

2008-01-29T08:55:00-0700 - The GA js is causing 404's right at this very moment.

[annej]

I'm having trouble getting site search analytics to work as well. It's there, just all the results are zeros. Maybe I should redo things with the old code.

[pageoneresults]

Since I posted the above issue, we've not had one single GA js error since. Is that a coincidence or what? Its unusual too, we typically see them throughout the day. Google, are you reading this? :)

[webboy1]

Good Good! We're not so lucky. Still seeing the exact same pattern in terms of numbers of £0 transactions showing and the overall percentage if overall sales.

Hopefully Google is reading ... I'm seeing more and more threads in search results from people with similar issues.

[annej]

I'd like to see someone from Google answering questions about Google Analytics.

It seems to me it would be more logical to have it in the Analytics forum. That is where people go if they have questions about GA. But then if you want to concentrate on the AdWords people I guess here makes sense too.

[webboy1]

Having someone from Google on clarifying these things would be good, but I guess we have to appreciate that the software is free, so any support in that sense is actually a bonus.

The downside is that it is one of the more important parts of the software where the issues are occuring - ecommerce. We're lucky we record this through other channels at the same time, otherwise we'd have a greater urgency to change tracking.

[annej]

I just realized I put my last comment in the wrong thread. It was in response to a thread in the AdWords forum. I had too many windows open.

It looks like someone from Google is going to volunteer to do this and I thought it would be good here but I think it's going to happen in the AdWords forum.

[BritishAgent]

We've seen an almost 30% increase in our traffic since implementing the new code. But we also launched a totally new architecture for the site and used a lot of 301 redirects, so we're not sure if this is an analytics problem or if we're causing some kind of loop.

[pageoneresults]

Updates as of 20080502...

We're still seeing a bit too many 404s from Google Analytics. Anyone else out there doing finite tracking of 404s and seeing these on a daily basis?

google-analytics.com/ga.js

In speaking with my programming team, they inform me that it appears to have something to do with the second call to Google's server, the http vs https, we're not 100% sure just yet. I want to find out if anyone else is tracking these and if they've determined how to prevent them or can tell me not to worry about them, all is okay. ;)

[Mentat]

Ok, something is wrong...

I see total SF data since 1 may !
The problem is my direct traffic.

I see a drop of 80 000 unique visitors !
I've lost since 01.05.2008 80% of my direct traffic...
Only direct traffic is down !

[edited by: Mentat at 6:40 am (utc) on May 6, 2008]