Direct traffic spam has been plaguing many Google Analytics accounts. You might have direct spam traffic if you see large spikes in direct traffic where the majority of the traffic are new users, have a 100% bounce rate, and page depth of 1. This spam traffic can be detrimental to analysis of your web traffic because it is inaccurate and misleading. So lets get rid of it!
The most exhaustive and effective way to completely remove direct (and referral!) spam is to create a valid hostname filter.
The first thing you will want to do is check the hostnames for your traffic. Find this under the audiences tab, then technology, then network. Once under network, switch the view to hostname. This shows the hostnames that your Google Analytics code is being triggered on. The main hostname you will want to keep in your traffic reports is your domain name. Other legitimate hostnames could be a subdomain or a translator domain. Mark all of the legitimate hostnames in a word document.
Next, create a new view in your Analytics. You always want to create new views when adding filters so that you have your original, “All Web Site Data” view, intact. Once in your new view, create a new Filter. Name the filter whatever you like. Choose a custom filter. Choose to INCLUDE and choose the filter field “Hostnames”. Once you have chosen hostnames, enter all of the valid hostnames that you have saved. Separate each with a pipe, like the following:
yourdomain.com|yoursubdomain.com|yourotherdomain.com
Save the filter and track your traffic over the next few days. Compare the new view to the all web site data view so that you know it is working.