[Summary-Talk] Re: filter search engines out of referrer reports?

[Jason Linhart <jason@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dale LaFountain wrote:
> 
> I just tried this feature, and it looks like the domains being
> excluded with the "No Search Engines" filter is a little
> overzealous.

Indeed. We have a few extra, we miss a few. I am always trying to
improve it. The way the various domains get used changes over time. It
is a constant challenge to keep up.

> yahoo.com (already separate from search.yahoo.com, and contains
> mostly clicks from yahoo webmail sites)
> msn.com (lots of hotmail sites in here)
> google.com (gmail, groups)

I agree that all of these are currently wrong, except groups.google.com.
Groups.google.com is difficult to classify. In my view it is far more
like a search engine than it is like anything else. Users search for
things there and sometimes the results lead, all be it indirectly, to
your web site. The others will be fixed in the next release.

> "Improved second level domain detection for msn.com,
> distinguishes their search indexing robot from their ISP customers."
> Is this change related to the REFERRER tag or the client's browser

This change was about visitors, affecting the Domain Report (Visitors :
Visitors on the Report Menu).

> Are there any plans to further subdivide the search engine domains
> into search and non-search based traffic?

Yes, when possible. The examples you mentioned above are all fairly
clear, but there are some others which are far more difficult to divide
up correctly.

> If you need help coming up with a list of domains, I would be happy
> to help out with that part. :)

If you see any others that Summary is classifying incorrectly, by all
means tell us.

Thanks
Jason

-- 
Jason@Summary.Net
--
Dr. Seuss books . . . can be read and enjoyed on several levels. For
example, 'One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish' can be deconstructed
as a searing indictment of the narrow-minded binary counting system.
    -- Peter van der Linden, Expert C Programming, Deep C Secrets
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