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    4. Google as referring domain

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Google as referring domain

    Reporting & Analytics
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    • accessKellyOCG
      accessKellyOCG last edited by

      Hi all,

      a colleague asked a question, which I could not answer (never even noticed this "problem") 😞

      When we are logged into our GA account and go the referring domains section, we find Google. I always thought that these visitors came via Google Image Search, but not all of them do.

      Most of them come via "/imgres", but some come via "/" (always thought that "/" was the homepage?), "/url" and "//"

      Maybe I am just stupid, but honestly I could not explain what these strings mean... or how these visitors landed on our site...

      Can you help me???

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Mike_Davis
        Mike_Davis @accessKellyOCG last edited by

        Considering that (not provided) comprises 75% of my search queries, do you really think that Google will be transparent with this?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • accessKellyOCG
          accessKellyOCG @Mike_Davis last edited by

          Hi Mike,

          before I posted my question I searched on Google concerning this topic and read your quote.

          It helps, but I would like to know the exact Google "source" these referrals come from...

          /imgres = Google Image Search

          / = ?

          // = ?

          /url = ?

          but thanks for your effort 🙂

          Mike_Davis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Mike_Davis
            Mike_Davis last edited by

            This is from Google:

            Not all referrals from Google.com domains come through organic search or AdWords ad listings. Referrals may come from a variety of sources, including Google Groups posts, base.google.com listings, or static pages on related Google sites. Such visits are tagged as [referral] instead of [organic] or [cpc].

            cited: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1011811?hl=en

            I hope that helps!

            accessKellyOCG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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