Products
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Webtrends Analytics 9.x
Cause
On November 9, 2010, Google introduced a new search feature, “Instant Preview,” allowing users to view a snippet of the page to which the URLs in the search results would direct the visitor if the link were clicked. This feature requires visitors to click on the magnifying glass icon located to the right of the URL, after which a snapshot of the page in question appears to the right of the search results. Where Webtrends’ visitor metrics are concerned, this new feature displays cached previews of these pages and viewing the preview will not initiate a visit or increment page view counts until the visitor clicks on the link and begins a session on the site, thereby making it no different from how Google previously referred visitor traffic. It should be noted that the ability to preview the page prior to visiting it may possibly affect a visitor’s decision to do so, but the only metrics obtained by Webtrends are those derived from visitors who choose to visit the site.