Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
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_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Came across these pictures this week. You won’t have a clue what the one on the left is, and you will think you know what the one on the right is. At best, it resembles a rather poor reproduction of Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (painted 1884-6). But as so often in life, all is not what it seems. When you click on the site from which they were gleaned – by a guy called Chris Jordan on a page entitled, ‘Running the Numbers – An American Self-Portrait‘ – you’ll see that blown up they tell a very different story. Have a look for yourself – and remember that we in Britain are not much better than our American cousins.
3 responses
If annual global consumption matched the UK’s, the world’s population would need an extra 3.1 planets to satiate its desires. See http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/britainstartseatingtheplanet150407.aspx
They are cool pictures – love the illustrations you find, especially the one which you think is an eye but turns out to be a butterfly, its wicked.