Google analytics shows my own website as a referring site

[Suvro]

I run a website www.example.com that has Google analytics installed.

When I have a look at the list of referring sites, I find my very own website example.com generating the maximum visits from the referring sites. It is then followed my some external websites. On clicking on example.com in the referring sites list, I get to see all visits generated by the internal pages of my website as external references.

This leaves me pretty much confused about how could my own website be recorded as an external referring site.

Can anybody help me out on this ?

[phranque]

you have a domain name canonicalization problem.
www.example.com is not the same domain as but rather a subdomain of example.com.

[Suvro]

The analytics code in www.example.com and example.com are exactly same. So even if there is a canonicalization issue, Google analytics should treat both as a single account/ domain.

[edited by: Suvro at 12:01 pm (utc) on Jan. 28, 2009]

[phranque]

how does your server redirect a request for example.com to www.example.com?

[cgrantski]

Does the information at this link (below) help? It seems to cover the situation for any analytics program, although the solution they offer is unique to the tool they are discussing.

[webtrendsoutsider.com...]

I am sure this has been discussed here on WW also, but I can't find anything just now.

[StoutFiles]

Either way you should have it 301 to one or the other.

[Marcia]

That's how it's supposed to be; it's a different hostname

[mattcutts.com...]

www. is a sub-domain of example.com, making it a different "host" than non-www pages.

[tonynoriega]

i just put in a filter to exclude any referrals from my own domain...