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Old 08-09-2012, 03:49 AM  
u-Bob
there's no $$$ in porn
 
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A 3rd party hosted solution that relies on client side data can never be as accurate as your own server's stats.

And the problems with GA go even further than that. It's not just users without js they can't track, it's even a significant portion of the users with js they can't track.

Almost all personal firewalls these days have a privacy option/setting/module. Most of those will block tracking sites like GA or at least have an option to do so. That means that those users won't be tracked by GA even if they have js enabled in their browser.

Some users will also use their hosts file to block sites they deem harmful or a privacy risk. Mosts of those hosts files you can find online also included the GA domains. That's even more users GA can't track even if they have js enabled.

The bigger problems occur when people start using onclick GA code on their links. A few months back I noticed the links on Fucking Awesome's sites didn't work for me (js enabled). When I disabled js, they links worked. Their GA code turned out to be the problem:

https://gfy.com/showpost.php?p=18974368&postcount=16
Quote:
Originally Posted by u-Bob View Post
You've got an onclick that ends in "return false" on your links so of course your links don't work.

I assume that whatever GA code you've got on there modifies those links (adds tracking stuff or whatever) and then takes care of the redirecting.

Here's the thing: we're nullrouting the GA domains, so the GA code never gets downloaded or executed.

In other words: users that are blocking GA (those with GA domains in the hosts file, a privacy program, a personal firewall with a privacy module/option,...) can't click your links and you probably don't even know you had those visitors if you're relying on GA for stats.
I just did a test on one of their sites and it looks like they are still using that onclick GA code. Their sites, their decision, but personally I don't think it's a good idea to sacrifice what could potentially be a significant portion of your traffic (and income) for some fancy GA traffic stats.
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