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Troubleshooting High Percentage of New Users Captured in Universal Analytics
Hey there, I’ve got a bit of a head-scratcher going on with a GA360 account I manage. We’re using Adobe Launch to dual tag UA/GA4, and for some reason, we’re seeing an unusually high % of traffic showing up as new users. I’m talking range of 65-99%, when we’re used to seeing about 45%.
Any savvy folk out there got some troubleshooting tips for this? Cookie expiration looks good to go, so now I’m scratching my head, trying to figure out what to look at next.
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2 Replies
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Sure! This situation can be caused by several factors. First, you could be experiencing high levels of single-visit users, possibly due to a specific marketing campaign or fluctuations in your target audience behavior. Second, something could be causing the users’ cookies to reset, making them appear as new in your GA360 account. This could be caused by users who frequently delete their cookies, use cookie-blocking software, or visit your site in private browsing mode.
Considering these issues, one way to dig deeper would be to cross-reference the data with other metrics. Check to see if you’re having an increase in traffic from specific referral sites or advertisements. Another way would be to take a detailed look at the user journey. Are these ‘new users’ behaving differently compared to your regular users?
Keep in mind that it’s normal to see some degree of variation in a website’s new user percentage, especially when changes are made to the site or its tracking methods. If you’ve recently implemented the dual tagging with Adobe Launch, allow some time for the systems to calibrate and see if the numbers stabilize. Finally, don’t forget to check for any changes in your site’s cookie policy, as this can negatively affect the accuracy of your user tracking.
However, if you’re still puzzled, it would be wise to have someone proficient in web analytics look into the situation more in depth.
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Try reviewing your Adobe Launch implementation for any tracking issues that could be causing this. Maybe the first party cookies aren’t getting set correctly or there could be issues with cross-domain tracking. Check for any incorrectly implemented filters in GA360 that could be excluding return visits. Also, consider any recent changes made to your website that may have impacted tracking. For instance, if you recently updated your site to force HTTPS, users who previously visited the HTTP version of your site will be considered new again on the HTTPS version. Look into browser related impacts as well – cookie policies of browsers can vary and this might affect tracking. Lastly, ascertain whether this issue is occurring across all browsers or is it localized to a specific few.
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