{"id":17830,"date":"2023-05-12T19:17:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T19:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/how-to-filter-internal-traffic-in-google-analytics\/485913\/"},"modified":"2023-05-12T19:17:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T19:17:15","slug":"how-to-exclude-internal-traffic-in-google-analytics-4-via-sejournal-vahandev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=17830","title":{"rendered":"How To Exclude Internal Traffic In Google Analytics 4 via @sejournal, @vahandev"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google Analytics 4<\/a> (GA4) is rolling out in a rush, and if you\u2019re reading this guide, you might be having a tough time figuring out how it works.<\/p>\n

One area that might be causing you confusion is filtering out internal traffic.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019re already missing how user-friendly Universal Analytics (UA) was \u2013 especially when it came to filtering out traffic.<\/p>\n

In UA, you had full control over how you could filter out traffic.<\/p>\n

See the beauty it had.<\/p>\n

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\"UniversalScreenshot from Google UA, May 2023<\/span>\"Universal<\/div>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Now, I find it hard to understand why GA4 has replaced such a vital function with only an IP-based rule.<\/p>\n

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\"IP\"IP<\/a> <\/div>
IP based filter <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Internal\"Internal<\/a> <\/div>
Internal Traffic Filter <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The IP-based filter is useless when your company employees are remote as, in most cases, IPs are dynamic, and it is not practical to update the list of IPs daily.<\/p>\n

This is why we have created this guide for you to help you filter out undesired traffic \u2013 and, most importantly, internal traffic \u2013 in GA4.<\/p>\n

What Is Internal Traffic?<\/h2>\n

\u201cInternal traffic\u201d refers to the web traffic that originates from you and your employees accessing your website.<\/p>\n

Your employees\u2019 activity can reduce the quality of your data and make it harder for you to understand what real visitors are doing on the website, and how much traffic you have.<\/p>\n

Even though IP-based filters may not be the best way to filter our internal traffic, I would like to start with that method as the easiest path to use \u2013 and as a basis to explain how new data filters work.<\/p>\n

How To Filter Out Traffic Based On IP<\/h2>\n

Navigate to Data Streams<\/em> in GA4.<\/p>\n

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\"DataScreenshot from GA4, May 2023<\/span>\"Data<\/div>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Go to Configure tag settings, click on the Show all<\/em> button, and then click on Define Internal Traffic Rule<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"Configure\"Configure<\/a> <\/div>
Configure tag settings <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Define\"Define<\/a> <\/div>
Define internal traffic <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On the popup dialog, click the Create<\/em> button, and you will see a screen where you can enter the IP addresses you want to exclude.<\/p>\n

Please note the \u201ctraffic_type=internal\u201d parameter in the dialog.<\/p>\n

When you create a rule, whenever it applies, it does append to the Google Analytics hits the parameter \u201ctt=internal\u201d which is saved in the GA4 database.<\/p>\n

\"IP<\/p>\n

\"IP<\/p>\n

Add data filters by navigating to Data Settings<\/em> then Data Filters<\/em>, and clicking Create Filter<\/em> button.<\/p>\n

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\"Data\"Data<\/a> <\/div>
Data filters <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Internal\"Internal<\/a> <\/div>
Internal Traffic Filter <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The basic idea is straightforward: You need to assign a value of your choice to the \u201ctraffic_type\u201d parameter and then use data filters to remove any hits that have that same value assigned to the \u201ctraffic_type\u201d parameter.<\/p>\n

There are two options: The \u201cDeveloper\u201d filter and the \u201cInternal Traffic\u201d filter.<\/p>\n

What Is The Internal Traffic Data Filter?<\/h3>\n

This filters out any traffic with the traffic_type parameter set to \u201cinternal\u201d by default. The value of the parameter and filter name can be anything.<\/p>\n

How Does The Internal Traffic Data Filter Work?<\/h4>\n

For example, you can create an IP filter rule with a parameter traffic_type=europe_headquarters and set a different IP range for your EU office.<\/p>\n

You can create as many rules as you want with different traffic_type parameter values, and it will be sent in the hit payload (as tt a parameter) when the visitor IP matches the rule.<\/p>\n

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\"tttt parameter in the hit payload<\/span>\"tt<\/div>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Then, by adding a data filter for each IP rule you\u2019ve created, GA4 will exclude hits when traffic_type the data filter setting value matches the tt parameter of the payload  \u2013(tt is simply an abbreviation of \u201ctraffic type\u201d).<\/p>\n

What Is The Developer Traffic Data Filter?<\/h3>\n

This filter excludes traffic from developers or internal traffic from a company or organization.<\/p>\n

Similarly to the internal traffic data filter, it eliminates only data from being recorded in GA\u2019s database, with the difference that you can still see your activity in the Debug View<\/a> and its real-time reports.<\/p>\n

That is why it is called a developer data filter.<\/p>\n

In contrast, you can\u2019t see events from internal traffic in Debug View<\/em> when internal data filters are active.<\/p>\n

How Does The Developer Data Filter Work?<\/h4>\n

When debug mode is enabled _dbg payload parameter is included in hits.<\/p>\n

Then, the developer data filter eliminates all hits with _dbg the parameter being recorded in the GA4 database.<\/p>\n

Debug mode parameter is added when using the preview mode of Google Tag Manager, or when Google Analytics Debugger<\/a> is used.<\/p>\n

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\"_dbg_dbg debug view parameter in the payload<\/span>\"_dbg<\/div>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Data Filter States<\/h2>\n

Data filters have three different states:<\/p>\n