Hi, I would like to know if Google Analytics session/visits count include visits by bots (google bot, yahoo etc.).
If so, how to remove bot visits from the count? Kindly assist.
incrediBILL
6:44 pm on Jun 27, 2015 (gmt 0)
No the googlebot doesn't count and if it did, it would be a different user agent listed just like firefox, msie, etc.
Most bots don't use javascript which is what's required to execute Google analytics which is why bots show up in your raw log files but not 3rd party trackers most of the time.
However, there are headless browsers now used by bots which DO use javascript so those may appear and Google may not be able to filter those out.
lucy24
7:03 pm on Jun 27, 2015 (gmt 0)
Analytics --whether google or someone else-- doesn't technically count "visits" (i.e. requests for a page, with all accompanying files) at all. It counts requests for the analytics php script, which is triggered by javascript on each page. A robot can separate these two-- page alone or analytics alone-- depending on whether its underlying purpose is reading your HTML or referer-spamming your logs.
born2run
8:48 pm on Jun 27, 2015 (gmt 0)
Thanks 😊
RhinoFish
7:53 pm on Jun 28, 2015 (gmt 0)
Look in the View settings, you'll also see the setting there for "Exclude all hits from known bots and spiders".
RhinoFish
7:54 pm on Jun 28, 2015 (gmt 0)
And there's referrer spam, which is often reported data from evil bots: [analyticsedge.com...]
