How to block m.apkara.com referrer spam in Google Analytics

Many website owners and webmasters have been reporting suspicious referral traffic from m.apkara.com in Google Analytics data. After analyzing the unusual referral traffic we discovered that the website is owned by a known spammer named Volkan Ikiz who fronts a questionable SEO website named Moradam. Volkan Ikiz and Moradam promote m.apkara.com by spamming Google Analytics accounts around the world with fake referral traffic that appears to be from the site even though they’re not. This is a  blackhat SEO method called referrer spam or referrer spam indexing.

According to whois information (https://www.whois.com/whois/m.apkara.com), m.apkara.com was created on 01/10/2018, so utilizing the referrer spam method is a desperate course of action to attract visitors to the newer site. The A records (https://viewdns.info/reverseip/?host=m.apkara.com&t=1) show that the IP address is shared by numerous websites, some of which are known for utilizing the referrer spam method.

Although referrer spam may seem harmless, it can alter a website’s genuine Google Analytics data. For example, every visitor from m.apkara.com is a new user, the average bounce rate is 0%, average page sessions are 0, and the average session duration is 0:00. If this erroneous data compiles over a period of time it will permanently modify a website’s real data.

The instructions on this page will help you block m.apkara.com referral traffic in Google Analytics in order to maintain a website’s genuine data.

1. Open your Google Analytics account and go to Admin > Filters.
2. Click the + ADD FILTER button.
3. Create a Filter Name such as “m.apkara.com” or “Referrer Spam.”
4. Select the Custom Filter Type.
5. In Filter Field, find and select Campaign Source.
6. In the Filter Pattern text box, add m.apkara.com 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: “m.apkara.com | apkara.com | example\.com” (include the “|” between each URL)