Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
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_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Life gets busy as you get older, doesn’t it? 🙂 I hope it slows down a little for you soon.
Okay, I can’t help it. What are you holding in your profile pic? I am so curious. 🙂
Yeah, life sure does get busy when you get older. Thank you! I appreciate you saying that, Sarah. 🙂
I’m holding a roasted starburst on a stick. My cousins came for my birthday this year, and we had a bonfire–s’mores and everything. But one of my cousins doesn’t like chocolate, so she roasts starbursts instead, and I was trying a roasted starburst. They’re actually really good…not as good as s’mores, though. 😉
A roasted starburst?! Wow. Did it puff up like a marshmallow, or did it just melt? Maybe I will try that one time. We used to do campfires a lot, and my brothers would try roasting their chips and watermelon. It never turned out very well. Our worst experiment, though, was flaming a marshmallow and then extinguishing it in a snowbank. It didn’t seem like that bad of an idea, but the result was a grey, slimy, cold marshmallow. Awful. Never try it. 🙂
It just melted, but it was hard on the outside and gooey on the inside…yum. 😛 Haha! That kind of marshmallow sounds gross. XD I will be sure never to try that. 😉 We once blew up a marshmallow in the microwave…and then ate it. 😀