Is there a way to hide my Google Analytics snippet so it can't be copied or spammed?

Question

When I view the page source of my website, I can see my Google Analytics snippet:

 <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-12367889-1"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());

  gtag('config', 'UA-12367889-1');
 gtag('config', 'AW-608708765');
</script>

I tried pasting this code into a local file and opening that file in a browser. Google Analytics counted the hit that wasn't from my website.

That means everyone can copy my code and use for fake traffic. How can I prevent that?

Answer 1

One solution is to set up a 'Custom Filter' to only include data from your domain. This filter should then prevent your data from being corrupted if someone copies and uses your tracking snippet on another domain.

So, it would be something like this:

1. Admin
2. Filters
3. Add Filter
4. Pic a name
5. Choose 'Custom'
6. Choose 'Include'
7. Choose 'Hostname' in the dropdown
8. Write your hostname with a \ before the dot, like this \.com
9. Click Save

Here's two blog post describing the solution:

https://www.wetpaintwebtools.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-google-analytics-data-from-spam/

https://neilpatel.com/blog/protect-analytics-from-hacking/