utmz cookie set to (not set)

[jennyflower]

Hi, I grab google cookies from my site and manipulate them to split out the search engine and search term. Lately some of them have been coming up as (not set) for both of them. Has anyone come across this before and if so where does the person come from if this is happening?

Thanks

 

[ChrisHirst]

What's a "google cookie"??


I guess you are referring to the HTTP_REFERER which carries that information.

Only when a link is clicked does a referer value get set. So visitors from bookmarks, type in or copy 'n' paste addresses, email client links (other than webmail) will NOT carry a referer.
Also many Anti Virus, Anti Spyware and Internet Security packages remove this value.


Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[jennyflower]

A google cookie is set when you use google adsense and I think maybe analytics.

You put a javascript file in your initial webpage which will create cookies based on values that google has sent to your website, these cookies are __utmz, __umta, __umtb and __utmc.

The __utmz cookie holds information about the search engine and adsense campaign n tht. At the moment google doesnt seem to be setting them correctly at their end which results in the cookie I create from splitting the __utmz cookie not working as it used to and me not finding out what the visitor typed into their search engine to find us.

 

[1DMF]

I'm having a similar problem with Google, i've set up analytics, i've added all the relevant code, and now my analytics reporting is showing a campaign called (not set).

When I spoke with google adwords support, they said it's because I hadn't set up tracking correctly.

But I have a separate account for some other websites, I step by step followed the set up instructions to the letter and ever since activating the analytics, i've now got stats on a campaign called (not set).

This is worrying that we spend all this money with google, yet they clearly are unable to account for it correctly.

I'm awaiting their response.



"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[jennyflower]

Its not a campaign call (not set) but the search terms that people have used to find the site have been set to (not set).

I have included the analytics script at the bottom of an index page which has a php include(). When a page is called, it always calls index.php?content=pagename.php and pagename.php is used for the include, basically everything is shown through the index.php page. Do you think this may be the problem? Its only started happening since I set up analytics is all.

 

[jennyflower]

This is weird, its not doing it now, all my cookies are set to their correct values. It only seems to go wrong sometimes apparently. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it see how often it comes up with (not set) for the search engine/parameter

 

[1DMF]

Its not a campaign call (not set) but the search terms that people have used to find the site have been set to (not set).

weird my shows as a campaign, here is a screen shot...

http://www.homeloanpartnership.com/adwords.gif

What's even more weird is , adwords analytics has chucked me out, I logged back in and it's changed again, I think they have officially released the new analytics system and it's screwed everything because now all I have is one campaign called (not set)

what are they playing at!


"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[jennyflower]

I just checked the campaigns bit as per your screen shot and mine has done that to!

When you go to "Traffic Sources" -> "Overview" in the keywords section is the top keyword (not set) aswell?

Compare the new interface to the old interface. Some of the numbers add up such as visits and how many users came from which search engine but things like keywords are completely different! That makes no sense what so-ever, they must have broken it somehow!

 

[1DMF]

looks like google have messed up, well if they can't account properly for my campaings I feel a refund coming on!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[jennyflower]

Well its been taken off our site as we use the search engine/terms extensively. Ill just make sure its fixed the problem and hasnt messed up anything else!

 

[1DMF]

I've had a reply from google...

Thank you for your email.

I understand you are concerned that the data in your Analytics account is appearing under a campaign called '(not set)', despite having set up your tracking code correctly.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are aware of this issue and are currently working to resolve it. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

If you have additional questions, please visit AdWords Support at

https://adwords.google.co.uk/support,

where you will find answers to many frequently asked questions.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

So looks like they have major problems, let's hope they fix it soon!


"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[jennyflower]

Thanks for that.

I just hope this hasn't affected anything else, but we seem to have dropped about 4 pages of google rankings in the past couple of days since we removed analytics from our site!

Ill only look at putting analytics back on the site when they have fixed the issues they have though

Thanks again

 

[1DMF]

we are having to get our Adwords and Analytics accounts severed, we will lose all analytical data and they will have to re-link the accounts with a different email address.

What a complete nightmare, we've spent hundreds of pounds with them and they can't give us any stats whatsoever and infact we will lose any we did have.



"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

 

[jennyflower]

Thats a bit ridiculous, especially for a company as large as google, you'd have thought they would have sorted it before they published! I noticed I lost all the analytics data and that is not connected anymore so I guess they are having to do this with all the people who added analytics to their websites