Bots and Spiders
The first thing to understand is just what a Bot or Spider is. They are basically automated computer programs, not people, that are hitting your website. They do it for various reasons.Sometimes it’s a search engine looking to list your content on their site. Sometimes it’s a program looking to see if your blog has new content so they can let someone know in their news reader. Sometimes it’s a service that YOU have hired to make sure that your server is up, that it’s loading speed is normal, etc.
The problems start when you learn that some of these computer programs that are running automatically CAN run the Google Analytics code and WILL show up as a hit in Google Analytics. Because it remains in your historical data, you’ll be forced to use segments to get rid of them also your total sessions will be affected by these bots.
The New Bot and Spider Filtering Feature
This feature will automatically filter all spiders and bots on the IAB/ABC International Spiders & Bots List from your data. (This is a list of spiders and bots that is continuously updated and compiled when people find new ones.) Generally membership to see this list costs from $4,000 to $14,000 a year, but by checking the little box on your view you get to utilize the list for free. A number of bots and spiders may slip through the list, but usually not for long, and hopefully not long enough to affect your data.Caution on implementing
Make sure you have an unfiltered view in your property that has zero filters, and which you don’t check the box. This way if there is some sort of error, you’ll have your data in a pure state to go back and look at, and compare against. Create a new test view that mirrors your main one in every other respect, and then check the box.More reading
