What is cross domain tracking?
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What is cross domain tracking?
Cross-domain tracking is a way of allowing Google Analytics to track a visitor as a continuous session on two or more related sites. For example when tracking www.sitea.com and www.siteb.com in the same GA Web Property.
Does cross domain need tracking?
I will mention this multiple times throughout this article but cross-domain tracking is needed only if domains are totally different. If you are tracking the visitor across the subdomain of the same domain, you don’t need cross-domain tracking.
What will happen if you don’t set up cross domain tracking?
Without cross domain tracking you will inflate the session count, since a new referral session will be triggered every time a user moves between the two sites. If you set up the referral exclusion list, you’ll likely see high levels of direct traffic and an artificially high user count.
Can Google Analytics track multiple domains?
Cross-domain measurement is a Google Analytics feature that allows you to see sessions from two related sites (such as an ecommerce site and a separate shopping cart site) as a single session, rather than as two separate ones.
How is cross domain tracking implemented in Google Analytics?
Measure activity across domains
- In Tag Manager, open your Google Analytics Settings variable or Universal Analytics tag for editing.
- Navigate to More Settings > Cross Domain Tracking.
- In the Auto Link Domains field, enter a comma-separated list of domains.
Why is cross domain tracking important?
Cross domain tracking enables these types of businesses to better understand the entire user journey as they navigate from one domain to another.
How do you implement cross domain tracking?
To auto link my domains, I select more settings in Google Tag Manager. Then, I navigate to the Cross Domain Tracking drop down. In the auto-linking field, I enter each of my domains in a comma-separated string. After I double-check my settings, I can save my progress to enable my changes.
How do I know if cross domain tracking is enabled?
You can verify that it’s working by opening the Network Tab in your web browser’s developer tools, and loading a page both on the source domain as well as on the target domain after following a cross-domain link, for example. All requests to /collect should have the parameter &cid use the same value.
How do I track cross domain in Google Analytics?
How do I find cross domain tracking in Google Analytics?
- Introduction to cross-domain tracking.
- Steps to check cross-domain tracking in Google Analytics.
- Check if both domains are tracked under the same property.
- Validate source domain in the referral exclusion list in Google Analytics.
- Check if the allow linker in GTM is set to true.
How do I cross domain tracking in Google Analytics 4?
How to configure cross-domain tracking in Google Analytics 4?
- Step #1. Go to the Admin of Google Analytics > Data Streams and select web data stream.
- Step #2. Go to More Tagging Settings.
- Step #3. Click Configure your domains.
- Step #4. Enter all domains that should be included in the cross-domain tracking setup.
How do I track users across a domain?
Cookies are the go-to method for tracking user information in a web client. First-party cookies (cookies set on the current domain you are browsing) allow tracking for data on a single domain or subdomains, so they will not work across top-level domains.
How do I track users across websites?
Some of the most common ways to track user activity include:
- Tools like Google Analytics and Search Console.
- Click tracking (recording which elements on a page users click)
- Scroll tracking (recording where users scroll on a page)
- Viewing session recordings of users as they use their site.
How do I know if cross-domain tracking is enabled?
How do I cross-domain tracking in Google Analytics 4?
How do I set up cross domain tracking in Google Analytics?
Under the dropdown Cross-Domain Tracking, you’ll find the field Auto Link Domains. Enter the domains that you want to link (separated by a comma and space). This will tell Google Analytics to link user sessions across the two sites. Next, open the Fields to Set dropdown.
Is website tracking legal?
Website Tracking and Global Privacy Regulations. Website tracking is legal. However, the practice is becoming more and more regulated with new and recently introduced directives such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California giving website operators guidelines they must operate within when dealing with customer data.
Do websites track your IP address?
However, websites can’t trace that unique IP address to your physical home or business address. Instead, websites can tie your IP address to your internet service provider, city, region, and even possibly your ZIP code. This is why you see ads for local businesses in your area online, for example.
