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I have a landing page with a button that takes the user to a store page which opens in a new tab. This store page is a different domain name than the landing page. I have cross-domain tracking setup and this new funnel I added doesn't want to convert people down the steps I set up. The funnel goes:

Step 1: Landing page (domain1.com)
Step 2: Store page (domain2.com)
Destination goal: Thank_you page (domain2.com/thank_you)

The question I'm asking is:
Does the fact the link is opening a new tab target='_blank'
count as a new session? Considering them dropping off at the landing page?

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  • Shouldn't do as the steps are recorded in the Analytics Cookie... Fire-up Firebug or similar and take a look at the cookie before and after.
    – Simon Hayter
    Feb 9, 2016 at 21:00

1 Answer 1

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Opening new tabs or windows does not cause Google Analytics to start a new session for the user.

Google Analytics starts new sessions when:

  • There is no existing session cookie
  • The existing session is more than 30 minutes old
  • There is an external referrer on the request

None of these apply to a request opened in a new tab.

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  • Hi.. my CMS adds <rel="noopener noreferrer"> to each of the links by default. So when someone clicks on "Contact Us" then a page (page is in the same domain) in a new tab. Does this mean Google analytics begins a new session? In fact I am running Google Ads, but till now having 0 conversions. Although, there are entries from contact-us form. So is this the same reason why those conversions are not counted?
    – Bhargav Joshi
    Mar 11, 2021 at 9:30
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    Google analytics pieces sessions on cookies. It doesn't use opener or referer as a basis for sessions.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Mar 11, 2021 at 9:55

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