What does "not set" mean Landing Page on Google Analytics

Question

On the page Google Analytic > Content > Site Content > Landing Pages.

What does not set as a landing page mean?

User's visit on the website must land somewhere, and that landing page must have a url. Am I taking it wrong?

In the Traffic Source, Browser, Location, etc. sections, I totally understand why there is a not set listed. But for Landing Pages, it appears quite confusing, at least to me.

Solution 1

According to GA's official support articles,

If you see landing page = (not set), this is generally due to a visit with no _trackPageview hit included.

• This can happen if you have a visit with another type of interaction hit, such as _trackEvent, _trackSocial, or _trackTrans (Ecommerce), but no _trackPageview hit.
• To investigate, create an advanced filter that includes pageviews matching exactly 0. You can then apply this to the Content > Event reports, Traffic Sources > Social > Social Plugins report, or Conversions > Ecommerce reports. This will help you identify which type of hit is causing the issue.

• Often, the cause is:

  1. A profile filter filtering out specific pageviews
  2. The omission of the _trackPageview code call on the website

Solution 2

I had the same question. GA's official support articles explained what (not set) means but they didn't clarify for me how to fix the problem.

For me I tried scouring my website for an instance where an interaction hit would be triggered with no pageview hit (I found none). The website was set up by somebody else so I had no way of knowing whether it was configured correctly other than by reviewing their work myself.

Incidentally, when I followed some steps to remove referral spam, the (not set) instances were subsequently eliminated. In case it helps you too, here is the article that helped me (I have no affiliation with the author):

http://help.analyticsedge.com/spam-filter/definitive-guide-to-removing-google-analytics-spam/

Solution 3

EDIT

Original link removed as it was incorrect.

The most common is that you are filtering out pageviews but events or Social interactions are still going through the filters and hitting GA, spawning new visits that don;t have pageviews.

If that isn't the answer, try this link: http://www.heatherphysioc.com/google-analytics-not-set-not-provided

Comments

[milo5b]

I also have the same thing for a few sites, it sounds like a GA bug to me: productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/analytics/…