In calculating time on site, the last pageview does not factor into the equation. It is true, as Vahe said, that the session will end at 30 mins. But the last pageview never gets a time on page # and is not factored into the time on site #.

All time on site/page calculations depend on the next pageview (still within the same session). One odd example to consider: I click a link on a page. Open a new tab and surf elsewhere. I come back to that original tab and click onto the next page BEFORE 30 mins have elapsed (without starting a new session, otherwise). In that case, the original pageview has a very long time on page.

Mike

Lou, I agree that it is odd that your'e seeing simultaneous upticks in traffic from the different mediums, but I wouldn't say it's out of the realm of natural possibility. As for your original question, I think you've mostly figured it all out. But allow me to do my best to clarify: The GA snippet would never actually fire on the old URL in the case of an old URL 301 redirecting to a new URL. 301s DO preserve referral information. So an old link on example.com that links to your OLD url will track in GA as landing on the new URL with example.com as a referrer. There are a few instances where the referral information will be lost, most (all) of them are detailed in the previously linked thread here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google Analytics/thread?tid=51c7a2aa222f415e&hl=en Mike

Indeed, if you want to whitelist a list of Google IPs, we'd be talking about a TON of IPs. To my knowledge, there doesn't seem to be a public list anywhere.

I'm afraid there is no good answer for your question.

Your best bet might be experimenting with an self-hosted Analytics package like Urchin.

Dave,

There is a considerable amount of research being done by Moz and the Moz bloggers at the moment on this topic. A blog post is planned once the team reaches a conclusion. I would expect it within the next few days (if not tomorrow).

If the post doesn't answer your question, you might think about posting your own separate question to get feedback from the community.

Mike

Awesome use of the new Q&A Rand!

One of my biggest content sites actually has seen an increase in traffic since the "farmer" update. The content on it is definitely a tick above content farmed crap, but it's also not 5-star.

For what it's worth, it's monetized with AdSense ads and there's really no branded traffic to speak of naturally.

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