At iDrop News, we have access to Google Analytics (GA) as well as the more premium version, Google Analytics 360. GA identifies traffic originating from the Apple News app as source = direct and medium = none. We’re waiting for Google to make changes so the dashboard displays Apple News the same way as Twitter, Facebook, or StumbleUpon sources.
While it’s not perfect, you can segment your traffic by browser to see Apple News web hits specifically. In Audience > Select Technology > Then select Browser & OS.
Under “Browser”, you should be able to see Apple News. If you don’t see it right away, try to search with the magnifying glass tool. “Apple News” might be buried in the long tail of browsers.
If you click into the version of Apple News, you can see at least three versions of the app: 590.1, 594, and 589.
It’s clear to see that Google still has some work to do to accurately track Apple News traffic. Currently it has hard time identifying the operating system as well.
Hopefully, the final release of iOS 10 will address all of these issues. We’re under the impression there are many web hits still coming from the Safari (In-App) browser as well.
Update(1): The internet is a fast paced eco-system where changes happen daily. Since posting this article, we haven’t been able to see significant Apple News traffic in Google Analytics. However, the period in which we could see Apple News traffic lasted from July 17th – August 3rd. After these dates, Google or Apple reverted back to the old setting where Apple News traffic is not recognizable from the rest of our In-App Safari traffic.
Update(2): iOS 10 has been officially released and we’re still unable to see Apple News traffic as a measurable portion of our In-App Safari traffic.
Update(3): Based on SlightFuture’s findings, we are implementing a weblog parser to count daily web requests coming from a user-agent string including “News/” and “AppleNews/”. This is only a temporary solution until GA starts displaying more substantial real-time data. Stay tuned for results.
Let us know what you are seeing in your Google Analytics in the comments below. Do you have an SSL (https://) website? Does you apple.news referral pass?
How To Track Apple News Traffic with Google Analytics
At iDrop News, we have access to Google Analytics (GA) as well as the more premium version, Google Analytics 360. GA identifies traffic originating from the Apple News app as source = direct and medium = none. We’re waiting for Google to make changes so the dashboard displays Apple News the same way as Twitter, Facebook, or StumbleUpon sources.
While it’s not perfect, you can segment your traffic by browser to see Apple News web hits specifically. In Audience > Select Technology > Then select Browser & OS.
Under “Browser”, you should be able to see Apple News. If you don’t see it right away, try to search with the magnifying glass tool. “Apple News” might be buried in the long tail of browsers.
If you click into the version of Apple News, you can see at least three versions of the app: 590.1, 594, and 589.
It’s clear to see that Google still has some work to do to accurately track Apple News traffic. Currently it has hard time identifying the operating system as well.
Hopefully, the final release of iOS 10 will address all of these issues. We’re under the impression there are many web hits still coming from the Safari (In-App) browser as well.
Update(1): The internet is a fast paced eco-system where changes happen daily. Since posting this article, we haven’t been able to see significant Apple News traffic in Google Analytics. However, the period in which we could see Apple News traffic lasted from July 17th – August 3rd. After these dates, Google or Apple reverted back to the old setting where Apple News traffic is not recognizable from the rest of our In-App Safari traffic.
Update(2): iOS 10 has been officially released and we’re still unable to see Apple News traffic as a measurable portion of our In-App Safari traffic.
Update(3): Based on SlightFuture’s findings, we are implementing a weblog parser to count daily web requests coming from a user-agent string including “News/” and “AppleNews/”. This is only a temporary solution until GA starts displaying more substantial real-time data. Stay tuned for results.
Let us know what you are seeing in your Google Analytics in the comments below. Do you have an SSL (https://) website? Does you apple.news referral pass?
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