The Chinese Internet is one-of-a-kind, and using Google Analytics raises a few challenges: • Slower connection speed, higher latency • Google data centres located outside of China • Reporting interface is slow (sometimes not accessible) in Mainland China • Data discrepancies often observed Here are the main things to bear in mind, and a few tips to do great Analytics, even behind the Great Firewall.

2. The Chinese Internet is one-of-a-kind, and using Google
Analytics raises a few challenges:
• Slower connection speed, higher latency
• Google data centres located outside of China
• Reporting interface is slow (sometimes not accessible) in Mainland China
• Data discrepancies often observed
Yet, Google Analytics remains one of the most popular webanalytics tools for the top
Chinese e-commerce sites, because of its superior functionalities.
Data Integrity is a challenge in China, but it can be addressed.
Here are the main things to bear in mind, and a few tips to do great Analytics, even
behind the Great Firewall.
Web Analytics in China
From Good to Great Analytics behind the Firewall
LEGEND
The Great Firewall of China refers to legislation and
projects initiated by the Chinese government, that
attempt to regulate the Internet in Mainland China.
It is conducted under a wide variety of laws and
administrative regulations, which are non-transparent
and unpredictable.
i
Outline
• Data accuracy
• Access to Google Analytics Reporting Interface
• Differences in the way metrics are computed
• Our recommendation
BT
GA
UA
:
:
:
Baidu Tongji
Google Analytics
Universal Analytics

3. According to our observations, the Great Firewall normally has a standard and stable impact on the
Internet environment in China, but its impact becomes much stronger and unpredictable during
some political campaigns and special events.
Data accuracy
While the Firewall does not block calls to the GA servers, it introduces a certain amount of
latency in data collection. This in turn can affect data accuracy, as visitors might change pages
before GA data has been sent. However, the potential latency in data collection does not affect
site performance.
Standard Firewall Impact: the Issue of Latency
Data in GA is not 100% reliable Upgrade GA to UA (UA’s tracking library
is over 50% lighter than GA’s)
Implement Google Tag Manager in self-
hosted mode for null-latency (advanced
set-up required)
Impact Solution
Our tests show 98-99% consistency for
number of PageViews between UA and BT.
Result
Visitors might change pages before tags are fired and
tracking information is sent to Google’s servers.
”Special Events” Impact
On this chart, one can observe a drop
in website traffic. Rather than being the
result of an actual decrease, it is due to an
intensified censorship policy that impacts
Google’s web services in China.
These restrictions do happen, but rarely.
According to our observations, they
occurred 3 times in the last 4 years, with
traffic disturbances for up to 3 days.
Double-track your website with BT. When
you observe a huge drop in traffic in GA,
check in BT to see if it is caused by the
Firewall.
Impact Solution
2
FIREWALL
GOOGLE’S SERVER
China
CN WEBSITE

4. 3
Access to Google Analytics Reporting Interface
GA reporting interface (www.google.com/analytics) shares the same domain name as Google’s
search engine. Therefore GA is strongly restricted by the Great Firewall and access to the
interface can be very slow or not possible at all.
Differences in the way metrics are computed
This does not mean your data is not being
collected properly (if you are following the
solution recommended above to address the
standard impact of the Firewall). Problems
in accessing GA reporting interface do not
impact the accuracy of data collection.
Virtual Private Networks1
(VPN) are an
easy and affordable solution to work
around the Firewall and access GA
reporting interface normally. Make sure
you choose a VPN with good reviews for
China.
Impact Solution
PageView is the only metric which is identically defined and implemented in GA and BT.
Therefore, PageView is the only “objective” metric that we recommend to compare between
both tools in order to benchmark data accuracy.
When a webpage is viewed, the tracking code on that page is loaded and triggered, thus the PageView of
the given page is counted 1.
i
Different Definitions of Other Metrics
Unique Visitor (UV), as defined in GA,
is determined by the presence of a set
of cookies in a web browser, within the
selected date range.
Unique Visitor (UV), as defined in BT,
is determined by a unique VisitorID that
is permanently stored in the browser’s
local storage, even if cookies are deleted.
Moreover, the metric UV in BT actually refers
to daily unique visitor2
, within the selected
date range.
1
VPN is a technology that simulates an Internet connection from another location than the user’s.
2
Definition of Unique Visitor and New Session in BT (in Chinese): http://goo.gl/9s8Cfp

5. 4
Sessions are reset in GA (i.e. a new session
is counted) if any of the following scenario
occurs:
• A new activity after 30 minutes of
inactivity
• Only under UA : A new visit on the
website from a different referral
• A new entry on the website from a
different campaign
Sessions are reset in BT (i.e. a new session2
is counted) if any of the following scenario
occurs:
• A new activity after 30 minutes of
inactivity
• A new visit on the website from a
different referral
• A new entry on the website after
restarting the web browser
For example, let us consider a user who leaves the website for a 3rd
party payment platform during the
checkout process, then comes back to the confirmation page within 30 minutes.
In GA, it is not counted as a new session, since there is no campaign parameter in the URL through which the
user comes back to the site (cf. http://goo.gl/0AwGKE. This is not true under UA however).
In BT, this scenario will be counted as a new session, if no cross-domain tracking is implemented. The new
referral will override the previous session.
Bounce Rate in GA is the percentage of
single-interaction visits (i.e. visits in which
the person left your site from the entrance
page without interacting with the page).
• By allowing for more precise interaction
tracking, Event-Tracking impacts bounce
rate.
• However, with advanced Event-Tracking
set-up, it is also possible to discount
an interaction to still count the visit as
Bounce.
Bounce Rate in BT is the percentage
of strictly single-PageView visits. The
calculation of Bounce Rate in BT differs from
GA’s :
• Event-Tracking does not impact Bounce
Rate
• In any case, there is no option to allow
you to discount an interaction (“no non-
interaction” option)
For example, a visitor arrives on a landing page, closes the newsletter subscription pop-in (tracked event),
then leaves the site. This will not be counted as a Bounce in GA, but you can configure this event as “non-
interaction”, in order to count this low-engagement scenario as a Bounce. In BT, this scenario will always be
counted as a Bounce.
Average Session Duration. Since Bounce Rate is computed differently in GA and in BT,
different values are to be expected for the metric Average Session Duration (the session duration
of a bouncing session being zero). Moreover, when a visitor closes a webpage, a hit is sent to BT
with a timestamp, but none to GA.
2
Definition of Unique Visitor and New Session in BT (in Chinese): http://goo.gl/9s8Cfp

6. Implement a double tracking Google Analytics/Universal Analytics Baidu Tongji
(and train your team) to enjoy the best of both worlds:
Google Analytics
• Benefit from the advanced features regular updates of Google Analytics,
and validate trends with Baidu Tongji
Baidu Tongji
• Baidu Tongji allows campaign autotagging and reporting from Baidu Tuiguang
(Search Engine Advertising)
• In real-time report, Baidu Tongji tracks site traffic on the user level, including
the IP address and all the pages visited (contrary to Google Analytics)
• Baidu Tongji provides advanced demographic and localisation reports with a
focus on China
• Baidu Tongji also offers site speed comparison, site index inside the
Chinese Firewall, Baidu trends, one-click Brandzone tracking, Search Engine
Optimisation suggestions (Google Analytics/Universal Analytic hides keywords
unless paid with Adwords)
In short, for metrics such as Sessions and Unique Visitors, it is normal to see
discrepancies between reports created using different tools. The best way to
think of metrics across different analytics products is to think in terms of trends, as
opposed to exact figures.
Our Recommendation
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