Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
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Server Requests
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
Sessions
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
Urchin
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)
Source
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
Custom variable
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
User
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
ID
ID used to identify users
2 years
Page
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
ID
ID used to identify users
2 years
ID
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
Google Tag
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Google Ads
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
Users and Sessions
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity