Mar 25 2008
Changes with Google Analytics?
Google Analytics reports that only 40% of our visitors on Tuesday were new. Previously, that number had never been less than 90%.
Yesterday was otherwise unremarkable statistically…
Incidentally, three quarters of our traffic yesterday came from search engines. So, if we take the 40% number at face value, a lot of returning visitors (at least 15% of total site traffic) returned by using a search engine (instead of, say, just typing in the name or using a bookmark). Looking through the search queries, I didn’t see very many that looked like they would come from a returning visitor, like agent orange alligator or “captain carnage.”
This might just be a one-day fluke, but the change is so drastic that I wonder if Google Analytics has changed the way it measures the percentage of new visitors.
UPDATE: I checked the statistics again and now it says that we had 84% new users yesterday.