Inflated visit and visitor counts - A4T FAQ

This topic contains answers to questions that are frequently asked about inflated visit and visitor counts when using Analytics as the reporting source for Target (A4T).

Why does my Analytics data show visits that have no page views or other variable values?

When Adobe Analytics is used to measure Target activities (called A4T), Analytics collects additional data that is not available when there is no Target activity on the page. This is because the Target activity fires a call at the top of the page, but Analytics typically fires its data collection calls at the bottom of the page. In the implementation of A4T to date, we included this additional data whenever a Target activity was active.

For more information, see Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

What is a partial-data hit?

A partial-data hit occurs when a Target tag at the top of the page fires but an Analytics tag at the bottom of the page does not fire. There are various reasons why this happens. In the A4T implementation to date, we included partial data about these hits whenever a Target activity was active. Going forward, we will include this additional data only when both the Target and Analytics tags have fired.

For more information, see Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

I can see a spike in visits. How can I tell if I these were caused by partial-data hits?

You can contact Adobe Customer Care to retrieve a Partial Data report. This information is not available directly in the Analytics UI.

What are the potential causes of partial-data hits?

Partial-data hits are often the result from improper implementation, such as misaligned report suite IDs. There are also legitimate causes, which include slow pages, page errors, redirect offers in an activity, or outdated library versions.

For more information, see “What Contributes to Partial Data” in Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

I have partial-data hits. What can I do to clean up my data?

You can create a virtual report suite to exclude historical partial data from your reports.

For more information, see “How Can I View Historical Trends Without Partial Data?” in Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

Is there anything I can do to prevent my pages from generating partial-data hits?

After November 14, 2016, we will include data only when both the Target and Analytics tags have fired. This change is not retroactive. If your historical reports show inflated counts, and you would like to exclude them from your reports, you can create a virtual report suite, as explained in “How Can I View Historical Trends Without Partial Data?” in Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

There are also steps you can perform to minimize partial-data hits. For more information, see “What are the Best Practices to Reduce Partial Data?” in Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

If partial-data-hit data is removed from reporting, aren’t we losing valuable Target or Analytics data?

Including partial data in Analytics reporting does provide additional information, it also creates inconsistency with historical data from periods when there were no Target activities running. This can cause problems for Analytics users who are analyzing trends over time.

There are steps you can perform to minimize partial-data hits. For more information, see “What are the Best Practices to Reduce Partial Data?” in Minimizing Inflated Visit and Visitor Counts in A4T.

Are there any particular types of Target activities that are more likely to cause partial-data hits?

Redirect offers immediately send a user to a different page, which means the Analytics call does not fire on the first page.