Google Analytics Custom Filter

[Unity]

Hello,

Quick question, when I create a custom filter on a profile that already has data collected will that filter apply to already collected data or will the filter only apply from the day it was created?

Am doing a custom exclude IP filter.

Much thanks,
Davinia

[Unity]

Great response, thanks Paul. That's answers all my questions!

[ThompsonPaul]

A profile filter will definitely only affect the data collected after the filter was put in place, Davinia. There's no way for Google Analytics to retroactively apply it. It'll take 4 to 8 hours for you see data that the filter has affected as well - that's just the lag-time on GA's reporting.

If you're starting to apply custom filters, I would STRONGLY recommend that you also create a new profile that will continue to collect RAW data for the site. Just create an additional profile and never apply any filters to it, (You can use the Create Duplicate Profile button on your existing profile to make it easy)

That way if anything ever goes wrong with your active profile - like an accidentally misconfigured filter which irretrievably discards data - you'll still have a source of the original data. Because any data filtered out by a custom filter can also never be recovered just by removing the filter.

Just like custom filters, the new profile will only contain data from the date it was created, so best to get it set up now, not at some point in the future when you might already have a problem.

Lastly, I'd suggest you add an Annotation in your GA profile marking when you applied the filter. It's a great way to keep track of changes you've made that might affect results. Much easier than trying to figure out later what you might have done at a particular time that caused significant changes in results. (Useful for adding campaign launches, unusual media mentions/external links etc too.)

Paul

[Unity]

Thanks Jared,

Yes I do need to use a filter over an advanced segment but the article doesn't tell me if I can see the data straight away (it does for segments but not filters).

[JaredMumford]

As far as I know - profile filters still do not work historically. See the "Differences Between Advanced Segments and Filtered Profiles" here:

http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033017

Update: @Paul - couldn't have said it better - creating a new profile that collects raw data is excellent advice as well.