Do you see a drop in traffic after implementing one of the following plugins with your MonsterInsights EU Compliance addon:
- Cookie Notice
- Cookiebot
- GDPR Cookie Consent – CookieYes!
- Complianz
MonsterInsights makes Google Analytics compliance for the EU GDPR and EU Cookie law simple.
However, a side effect of some of the settings of these plugins might include a drop in traffic, page views, and more.
For instance, if the compliance plugin you’ve selected is explicitly opt-in rather than opt-out, your customers need to opt-in, or it will not track them.
Opt-in means that data collection is turned off until someone clicks a button that allows you to collect their data. Opt-out means that data collection is turned on and the user will have to click a button to keep you from tracking them.
For many visitors, rather than take the time to opt-in, they simply ignore it and move on.
Additional data you’d lose in Google Analytics by being opt-in rather than opt-out includes:
- The first pageview: you’d only see their second and later pageviews after they’ve opted-in.
- If your average user visits 2.3 pages, that will turn to 1.3 pages.
- Sessions appear shorter.
- Your bounce rate will appear lower than in reality.
- All real visitors that bounce (you lose users with 1 pageview).
- No source of traffic: you will have 100% direct traffic.
- Except for users who agree to be tracked, leave the site, and then come back within 30 days (this is the cookie limit for notice dismissal).
- If a user is going to someone’s product page from google, you might have issues with your funnel setup.
- Affiliate source.
- Goals involving visiting a page will double count.
This data loss in Google Analytics might be a necessary side effect of your Cookie Notice plugin and EU Compliance to the EU GDPR as it pertains to Google Analytics.
However, depending on your audience and industry compliance needs, and because Google Analytics doesn’t track any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and explicitly bans users that do as per their Term of Service, the Google Analytics Opt-out plugin might be sufficient which is explicitly opt-out rather than opt-in.
For more details on properly setting up the EU Compliance addon, please see: Getting Started with the EU Compliance Addon.
Legal Disclaimer: This addon is designed to automate some of the settings change required to be in compliance with various EU laws however due to the dynamic nature of websites, no plugin can offer 100% legal compliance. Please consult a specialist internet law attorney to determine if you are in compliance with all applicable laws for your jurisdictions and your use cases.
As a website operator, it is solely your responsibility to ensure that you are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations governing your use of our plugin.
MonsterInsights, its employees/contractors, and other affiliated parties are not lawyers. Any advice given in our support, documentation, website, other mediums or through our services/products should not be considered legal advice and is for informational and/or educational purposes only and are not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date, and do not constitute creating/entering an Attorney-Client relationship.