Remove 6si_filtered From GA4 Reports

Dave L

Hello!
We've noticed that 6si_filtered appears as a session source in our GA4 Looker reports. Besides manually filtering it out of all of our reports, is anyone aware of another simpler way to do this on the 6sense side?

Thanks!

Brandon McBride

Do you know how it's getting in there? If it's in the GA4 looker reports, it should be in GA4. If you can identify where on the site it's showing up, (broad vs. a specific page, for example), you should be able to identify what might be triggering it.

If it's not in GA4, that's another story. I'd definitely want to find the issue and fix it instead of just filtering it out, because that traffic should be properly attributed rather than ignored. Though I guess it depends on the volume - are we looking at 10 sessions or 10,000?

Jim_Lionhurst

Hi Dave,

The best way to remove the 6si_filtered traffic from reporting is to use a Data Filter in GA4. A data filter lets you include or exclude incoming event data from being processed by Google Analytics.

For most clients, we do this by defining this traffic as internal in Google Tag Manager. We configure a custom JavaScript variable called 'traffic_type' to set a value of "Internal" to all traffic that contains the URL string "6si_filtered". You may also want to exclude URLs containing "6si_validation=1" because those clicks come from creative validation and should be omitted from reporting

After this you need to configure the Data Filter in GA4. Ensure that the filter Parameter Name is set to the name of the variable in Tag Manager and that Parameter Value equals "Internal".

@Brandon McBride When 6sense can confidently identify invalid clicks in real time (either as non-human, through click validation activity, or otherwise disqualified traffic), UTM SmartTracking technology will change the UTM source from “6sense” to “6si_filtered” prior to logging in Google Analytics reporting. This is why some companies choose remove this traffic from Google Analytics.

Hope that helps,

Jim

Brandon McBride

Thanks @Jim_Lionhurst! I learned something new today.

Dave L

Thank you @Jim_Lionhurst and @Brandon McBride for your help!

@Jim_Lionhurst Does your team create the custom java script you mentioned or is it just a simple variable in GTM?

Jim_Lionhurst

@Dave L this is setup as a variable in GTM (variable type = Custom JavaScript). Here is what it looks like: