Skip to main content
 

Missing data, missing traffic 30 to 70%

Answered
Wouter Blom

We have been using cookiebot for about 45 websites. We noticed a lot of traffic not being measured in most websites. The problem is NOT: People opting out. This we would see in the cookiebot report .

To trouble shoot we installed an google analytics account WITHOUT asking for consent

 

 

 

 

We measure 1709 users 2339 pagesviews.

Then we have the cookieconsent data:

The cookiebot sees 1023 visitors

Then the data after the OVERLAY cookie consent:

So the traffic measures AFTER cookiebot seems in line with the expectation. BUT 661 users are still missing from the analytics account that is not asking for consent. (considering 91% are new visitors and the normal refuse of cookies is about 2%)

So: any ideas on where my traffic is? Any people measuring the same problem. Or no problems at all?

 

Please let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

1

Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • Elina - vConnect - Community Supporter

    Hi Wblom,

    First at all we should point out that the use of Cookiebot does not negatively affect your website's ranking and the indexing of its content or the website's performance.

    However it will have an effect on how and when traffic is measured in your Analytics, mainly because of the fact that no data is registered for those users that ignore the cookie consent banner and leave the website without having either opt-ed in or opt-ed (it is not possible to register data and measure activity for those users). There is also further impact on the analytics data because of the type of cookie consent banner you are using on your website.

    We have an articles regarding, which you can check:

    Regards,
    Elina

    0
  • Marketing WBS

    We have the same problem. It's hard to imagine that such an extreme drop is due to users not making a decision. Here are the numbers:

    In the 14 days from Feb 18 to March 2 we had 307 users on average per day on site 1 (as measured by Google Analytics). From March 3 we started using Cookiebot and *immediately* the number of users dropped sharply to 151 per day in the following 14 days from March 3 to March 16. The Corona measures only hit Germany hard from March 16, so this can’t be the reason. From the numbers we would have expected that in the “User consents” menu we would see around 307-151 = 156 opt-outs on avg. per day from March 3 to March 16. However, it only shows 81 on avg. per day in that timeframe. I would like to know why Google Analytics shows twice as many users lost compared to Cookiebot opt-outs.

    While the former could, with some imagination, be attributed to users who did not make any decision, this cannot: On site 2 pre-Cookiebot we had around 300 users per day as per Google Analytics. After Cookiebot implementation we have about 90. That is a drop of about 210 users or 70%. Cookiebot, however, only reports about 25 opt-outs per day (ca. 10%)!

    You also have to note that we use the banner which (annoyingly) stays at the bottom until a user makes a decision, so we assume most users make a decision at some point in their session.

    0
  • Spas – vConnect – Community Supporter

    Hi Marketing WBS,

    Drops in traffic are not unusual when you give visitor the choice whether or not they want to be tracked.
    Cookiebot will have an effect on how and when traffic is measured in your Google Analytics, mainly because of the fact that no data is registered for those users that ignore the cookie consent banner and leave the website without having either opt-ed in or opt-ed (it is not possible to register data and measure activity for those users).
    You could find more about this here: https://support.cookiebot.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005476414-Why-is-there-a-drop-in-traffic-after-using-Cookiebot-

    For example if the user opts in and gives a consent to statistics cookies, the visit will be registered in Analytics. But if the user opts out of statistics cookies, the visit will NOT be registered in Analytics.
    You can see the number of opt in and opt out in the Cookiebot Manager though.
    Learn more about this at the following link: https://support.cookiebot.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004223253?flash_digest=6182009ba060add7f341c03f9dd1c5cea3ae5a53


    The consent method has also further impact on the analytics data because of the type of cookie consent banner you are using on your website. Using a banner with a high opt in rate, like the inline "allow all /selection" should give you a pretty good opt in rate, and thus more reliable statistical data. 
    If you are using a banner with the consent method 'explicit consent', the banner will stay on the website until the user submits a consent. This means, that if the user ignores the banner, it will not go away, no opt-in or opt-out will be made and no data will be recorded. This is what explains part of the "missing traffic" that some users report.
    On the other hand if you are using a banner of the type 'active consent', the continued use of the website will constitute a consent. If you have enabled 'on scroll' for example, the user scrolling on the first visited page will constitute an opt-in and data will be recorded (if that opt-in includes statistics cookies).

    Regards,
    Spas

    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

New post