Definition
Referral exclusion prevents certain domains (for example payment providers) from taking credit as a referrer in analytics.
Example
Exclude stripe.com and paypal.com so checkout traffic does not overwrite the original source.
How to use it
- Exclude payment providers and key subdomains that should be treated as internal.
- Fix root causes (cross-domain tracking) rather than relying only on exclusions.
- Re-test after domain changes or new checkout providers are added.
Common mistakes
- Excluding true partner referrals that should remain attribution sources.
- Using exclusions without fixing broken cross-domain tracking.
Measured as
Measure Referral Exclusion with a fixed attribution window, conversion event, and spend basis before comparing campaigns or creative tests.
Misused when
- Excluding true partner referrals that should remain attribution sources.
- Using exclusions without fixing broken cross-domain tracking.
Operator takeaway
- Exclude payment providers and key subdomains that should be treated as internal.
- Fix root causes (cross-domain tracking) rather than relying only on exclusions.
- Re-test after domain changes or new checkout providers are added.
- Use Referral Exclusion only inside a stable attribution rule, conversion definition, and time window so campaign comparisons stay honest.
- If performance changes, check whether the metric moved for a real business reason or because the measurement setup changed underneath you.
Next decision
- Read UTM + GA4 attribution: practical tracking for paid ads (without lying to yourself) if the decision depends on interpretation, policy, or trade-offs beyond the raw formula.
- Decide which report owns Referral Exclusion before comparing campaigns, channels, or creative tests.
Where to use this on MetricKit
Guides
- UTM + GA4 attribution: practical tracking for paid ads (without lying to yourself): A practical guide to UTMs and GA4: consistent source/medium/campaign tagging, conversion deduplication, and common attribution traps.