UTM SmartTracking makes it easier for marketers to see a clean view of their qualified 6sense campaign traffic within Google Analytics (and other reports) by automatically filtering most invalid clicks in real time and swapping the source UTM parameter for that activity before it is recording by their website analytics.
All active campaigns that use the UTM source parameter “6sense” will be automatically opted into the new feature. You do not need to take any action to set it up. If you prefer to opt out of this service, you can simply use any other parameter value, as the technology will only replace an exact match of “6sense”.
FAQ
Q: Why don’t the number of clicks in 6sense exactly match the number of sessions in Google Analytics?
A: Please note that even after this feature begins, the number of clicks reported by 6sense will likely not match exactly the number of sessions recorded by Google Analytics. The discrepancy could be positive or negative, depending on the situation. By definition, a click is not the same as a session, and some clicks may result in zero sessions (for instance, if a user closes their browser or hits the back button before the page finishes loading) or multiple sessions (for instance, if a user reloads the page or goes back and forth).
Q: What is the UTM source “6si_filtered” that I’m now seeing in Google Analytics?
A: This UTM parameter is dynamically inserted by our UTM SmartTracking feature. Whenever 6sense filters out a click from our billing and reporting due to suspicious characteristics that can be detected in real time. These clicks are not included in 6sense reporting, but still create sessions that Google Analytics will count and record. Note that 6sense may also filter additional clicks asynchronously, which means that some filtered clicks will still be included in the ‘6sense’ source traffic.
Q: If I don’t want UTM SmartTracking, can I turn it off?
A: Yes, 6sense’s UTM SmartTracking will only apply to URLs that have the exact UTM source parameter of “6sense”. Any other parameter value will effectively turn off this feature.
Q: Will the new UTM SmartTracking impact my click through rates?
A: 6sense invests significantly to detect and filter non-human traffic out of our billing and reporting for clients. This includes proprietary analysis as well as partnership implementations with leading brand safety and fraud detection vendors, primarily Double Verify. Our steps include real-time (at the moment of the click) and asynchronous (usually at the end of each daily cycle) tactics. Filtered clicks are not included in the count of clicks, calculation of click through rates, or tracking of accounts engaged. We are constantly updating our specific detections in order to stay ahead of problems, which means that CTRs may be impacted (up or down) based on those changes.
Q: Does this new feature work across all campaign and advertising types equally? Does it also impact Visitor Retargeting campaigns?
A: Yes, UTM filtering is applied to all 6sense campaigns managed on our platform. It is not applied to External Media Campaigns or advertising managed off-platform with segment Syncs.
Note that the new UTM parameter may have a more material impact on Google Analytics results for Visitor Retargeting campaigns than for other types of campaigns simply because retargeting doesn’t require account-based criteria to be met in order to serve ads, so is therefore more likely to see a larger percentage of clicks removed.