[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” background_enable_image=”off” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_right” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”0%||0%||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row gutter_width=”3″ make_equal=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”95.1%” width_phone=”100%” custom_margin=”70px|auto|-20px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”80px||||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”120px||||false|false” custom_css_main_element=”align-items: center;” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_main_element_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_main_element_tablet=”display: flex;||” custom_css_main_element_phone=”flex-wrap: wrap;||display: flex;” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”5%|5%||5%|false|true” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_main_element_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_main_element_phone=”order: 2;” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” animation_direction=”left” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
You might have seen a spike in your traffic once a month when reading your Google analytics 4 reports and wondered where it came from. Whenever you see a certain continuity in such spikes, there is usually some kind of systematic reason behind it. Don’t worry, that sounds more alarming than it is in most cases. <\/em><\/p>\n Certain sources are probably crawling your website at regular intervals. Many SEO tools such as SEMRUSH or Ahrefs, for example, offer automated crawls to regularly monitor the status of your website (you might just want to make sure that you actually want the tools to do so, otherwise there are also ways to prevent them from it, for example via your robots.txt). Or it is another service that crawls the page, such as the Cookiebot tool we selected for our example. As we naturally do not want any distortions in our traffic analysis, we will now show you how you can exclude such spikes from your analysis in Google Analytics 4.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row gutter_width=”3″ make_equal=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”95.1%” width_phone=”100%” custom_margin=”17px|auto|-20px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”80px||||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”120px||||false|false” custom_css_main_element=”align-items: center;” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_main_element_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_main_element_tablet=”display: flex;||” custom_css_main_element_phone=”flex-wrap: wrap;||display: flex;” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.19.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”5%|5%||5%|false|true” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_main_element_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_main_element_phone=”order: 2;” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Cookiebot is a consent management platform allowing website owners to create cookie banners and cookie declarations. In a nutshell, it frames the website under GDPR compliance where visitors would have the chance to either accept or deny cookies that might be set. You can configure your cookiebot setup to provide you a monthly feedback report on all the cookies on your website and if they fall under GDPR compliance.<\/p>\n To do this, cookiebot scans your website once a month. When a website is being scanned, the Cookiebot scanner crawls it looking for all known types of cookies and tracking technology and checks the status of those cookies whether they are being fired before or after consent. It is done by simulating \u2018 real\u2019 direct traffic to your website.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Well, you would need to dive into your traffic acquisition report in your GA4 property to find the issue. Sometimes spikes in direct traffic don\u2019t necessarily lead to cookiebot being the \u2018issue\u2019. It can happen from bot or spam traffic, you could have also had a very good day acquiring traffic directly. However, when you notice a pattern, there\u2019s your warning sign.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/wearekemb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/direct-traffic-spikes-traffic-acquisition.webp” alt=”Direct Traffic Spikes Acquisition Overview” title_text=”direct-traffic-spikes-traffic-acquisition” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n In this example, we have filtered for direct traffic only and we notice the very obvious pattern of spikes in traffic. Once a month, almost around the exact same time. After digging a bit more in the data you will find that this traffic is coming from the same exact location, Dublin Ireland.<\/p>\n If we zoom in from the picture above to the beginning of April, specifically 8th of April. We get the following data. Most of the traffic comes from Ireland with 0 engagement time per session. [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/wearekemb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/direct-traffic-spikes-in-ga4-channels.webp” alt=”Direct Traffic Spikes in GA4 – Channel Grouping” title_text=”direct-traffic-spikes-in-ga4-channels” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n A more granular look at that day would look something like this:\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/wearekemb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/direct-traffic-spikes-detailed-analysis.webp” title_text=”direct-traffic-spikes-detailed-analysis” _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n When you select other time frames that have the spike, you will also realise that the traffic spike is coming from the exact same place every time. (Do take the time to have a look at different time frames where you see the spike to make sure that the spikes have the exact same source every time).\u00a0<\/p>\n To double check your assumption, also be wary of the date<\/strong> when you receive the Cookiebot feedback report by email, as it will be sent on the same day or the very next day after the scan is done. By comparing the dates of your feedback report provided by Cookiebot and the numbers you see in GA4 you will be able to draw the right conclusions. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\nExamplary Case: Cookiebot causing spikes<\/h2>\n
How to identify the problem?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nHow to fix it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n