Campaigns without keyword report referer_url as keyword, but not available in segments / not shown in visitor log

[peterbo]

trafficstars

If a visitor referred by a campaign without a campaign keyword and a valid referrer URL, MarketingCampaignsReporting reports the referring Domain as campaign keyword. But you can neither use this campaign_keyword as a segment, nor is it reported in the visitor log.

[snake14]

Hi @peterbo . Thank you for taking the time to create this issue. Are you saying that the expected behaviour is that the referrer_keyword should always be treated as the campaign_keyword when the campaign_keyword isn't set? I think for the visitor log and segment to work, the campaign_keyword column would need to be set. From a data integrity standpoint, I don't think we want to simply copy the referrer_keyword into the campaign_keyword column.

[peterbo]

Hi @snake14, I agree, copying over a value to another (unrelated) field is not the way.

But at the same time, showing referrer domains in the keyword table (and not be able to see them in the visitor log / segments) is confusing. I'm not sure, what is the best fix. Not showing the referrer urls at all in campaign keywords might be the easiest possible solution, but might not be the best.

[snake14]

Thank you @peterbo . That's a good point. It does seem a bit inconsistent. Any ideas @AltamashShaikh ?

[AltamashShaikh]

@snake14 Check with core team once, if this is a bug or an expected behaviour

[snake14]

Hi @matomo-org/core-reviewers. Does the issue described above sounds like expected behaviour? I think it does, but maybe it would be better if the referrer keyword weren't used in the Campaign Keywords report when no campaign keyword value is set. What do you think?

[Stan-vw]

My 2 cents: it's strange that we're showing data when the actual values are empty. We wouldn't do this for many/any other data, unless we'd be absolutely certain of the accuracy (e.g. you can sometimes fill in the country name when you have the region name).

I'd be keen to hear more thoughts from end users about what the expected result is: would you prefer to see:

1. "Empty", showing you where you're not collecting data, and you should probably adjust your campaign slightly
2. Referrer_URL the way it is now: it shows in the campaign keywords table, but the datafield is still empty so you can't filter on it
3. Referrer_URL but it's now also filled out in the Campaign_Keyword field so that you can see it in the table, filter on it, etc
4. Other, please elaborate.

Until we have clarity on this, I don't think it makes much sense to adjust it.