Dave Colgate — July 17, 2019 — July 17, 2019
One of the most common issues you’ll experience in Google Analytics is (not set) values. Missing or inaccurate data compromises your ability to gain reliable insights and make valuable business decisions, which is the whole point of using a platform like Google Analytics.
Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about (not set) values.
What does ‘not set’ actually mean?
It means GA hasn’t received any valid information for the dimension you’ve selected. However, the reason you’re getting this value and the potential implications can vary, depending on the report it appears in.
Here are some examples:
Page titles
If you’re looking at page views and set the primary dimension to “page title”, you’ll want to keep an eye out for (not set) values. This is definitely something you should address if you’re seeing this value for pages that rank – or should rank – in search engines.
For non-indexed pages, pages behind login screens or other pages that don’t need to rank, this isn’t such an issue.
Network domain reports
Network domain reports tell you which websites your visits are coming from and there are many reasons why you might get (not set) for a relatively large percentage of traffic.
Google Ads reports
If your Google Ads reports are returning (not set) values, this could mean your account is either linked incorrectly or not at all.
Browser reports
If you see (not set) for a very small percentage of traffic, this is fine. Sometimes, Google simply can’t detect the user agent containing this information. However, a large percentage of traffic (5%+) showing as (not set) means something more serious is going on – for example, you’re getting an unhealthy amount of traffic from bots or crawlers.
Dealing with ‘not set’ values
Detecting (not set) values and determining which ones require action is a key part of website maintenance. In some cases, these values are completely natural but there are many scenarios where they point to technical issues that could impact website performance, search ranking or compromise your data insights.
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