How to filter Free-seo.online referral spam in Google Analytics
What is Free-seo.online?
Free-seo.online is a domain name owned by Volkan Ikiz and hosted in Germany by CAFEOTOMASYONU. The domain name is used in various referrer spam campaigns that target Google Analytics users with fake referral traffic from numerous spammy domains including Earn-1000-dollars.xyz in order to gain the attention of website owners and webmasters and persuade them to visit the URL.
If you visit the URL you will land on a webpage that says “Get Your Free Website audit now” and contains a field to enter a URL. This is a common landing page used by various spam sites over the years. If you submit a URL you will be redirected to a webpage on moradam.com such as http://panel.moradam.com/?s=no&r=42 and then to https://panel.moradam.com/project/. These websites are similar to notorious spammer Semalt.com and are suspected to be owned and operated by the same entity.
Free-seo.online targets your website’s Google Analytics data with fake referral traffic to gain your curiosity and provoke you to visit the URL in your browser. In reality, no one was actually referred to your website from Free-seo.online. This is a type of referrer spam known as ghost spam.
The problem with referrer spam is that it can negatively affect your Google Analytics data. For example, Free-seo.online referral traffic creates a 100% bounce rate and this can have an effect on your website’s authentic bounce rate.
It’s up to you if you want to avoid the services provided by the associated website; However, always we suggest that you do like these types of businesses are usually unethical and have the potential to scam you or use your personal information without your consent or knowledge. Always use caution when paying for online services or providing your information.
Is Free-seo.online harmful?
Free-seo.online is not a malicious website and their service may be decent; However, the website is consciously trying to mess with your website’s data in order to get your attention. Can you really trust a website that does this?
Referrer spam is typically thought of as a nuisance more than harmful but as previously mentioned, referrer spam modifies your Google Analytics data by manufacturing incorrect information and many people find this to be harmful.
How to block Free-seo.online referrer spam
- Open your Google Analytics account and go to Admin > Filters.
- Click the + ADD FILTER button.
- Create a Filter Name such as “Free-seo.online” or “Referrer Spam.”
- Select the Custom Filter Type.
- In Filter Field, find and select Campaign Source.
- In the Filter Pattern text box, add Free-seo.online and click the blue Save button on the bottom of the web page.
To add multiple domain names to the same filter you make a Filter Pattern similar to “Free-seo.online | Example.com | Example\.com” with a | between each URL
