Title: Bot Block – Stop Spam Referrals in Google Analytics Author: Ricky Dawn Published: July 27, 2015 Last modified: February 24, 2016 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/assets/banner- 772x250.png?rev=1207525) This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress. ![](https://ps.w.org/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/assets/icon- 128x128.png?rev=1207566) # Bot Block – Stop Spam Referrals in Google Analytics By [Ricky Dawn](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thiswebguy/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals.2.6.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/) ## Description This plugin has two main functions: 1. To stop spam traffic before it reaches your site (which stops spam visits showing in Analytics). 2. Save bandwidth, bots use bandwidth when they visit your site, this plugin stops them before they get the chance to download anything. Spam traffic is an increasing problem, companies like **semalt** are spamming sites in order to get their website shown within Google Analytics as a referrer (also known as referral spam). More spammers are beginning to take this approach and this causes issues for any Analytics user that relies on the data collected since pageviews and visitors are inflated. Spammers have even taken this a step further by triggering events, which of course can effect conversion data. This plugin is built to stop this, it blocks spam bots before your website loads which not only stops the traffic appearing within Google Analytics but it also saves you Bandwidth. The spam bots blocked are pulled from a central database of known bots, this database is updated as new spam bots are found, you also have the option to add your own referrer URL’s to block. ### Features Include: > * Central database containing tons of known spam bots > * Ability to add your own custom referrer domains to block > * You can either 301 the spam traffic to another site OR show a 403 error message > to spammers > * Full statistics, detailing most blocked bots, total blocks and number of sites > in block list > * Ability to block all subdomains of a domain e.g. spam.semalt.com > * Video showing you how to block ‘ghost referrers’ (the spam that cannot be blocked > since they do not visit your site) > * The ability to contribute to our growing list of spam bots #### Tags seo, SEO, google, google analytics, google analytics spam, spam, bot block, bot blocker, bot blocking, block bots, semalt, 100dollarsseo, analytics spam blocker ## Screenshots [⌊Plugin Settings Page.⌉⌊Plugin Settings Page.⌉[ Plugin Settings Page. [⌊Stats found within plugin.⌉⌊Stats found within plugin.⌉[ Stats found within plugin. ## Installation 1. Upload the `bot block` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory 2. Activate the Bot Block plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress 3. Configure the plugin by going to the `Bot Block` menu that appears in your admin menu under ‘Settings’ ## FAQ I am still seeing spam traffic showing in Analytics Watch the video within the plugins settings page – to block 100% of the spam traffic it is a 2 step process Can I see the full list of blocked sites? Yes go here: http://botblock.rickydawn.com/block_list.php Something has gone wrong and my site isn’t working Disable the plugin, if you cannot get into your admin area delete the plugin files via FTP. Then drop us a message on the support page. ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/60ebebab09b8f79d6e90dc171c1d2f3d0f648cef583bd8ec3ada62025493ad39? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Useless](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/useless-92/)󠁿 [Jeff Rudd](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeff-rudd/) October 14, 2016 I would give this a zero rating if that was available. Found it COMPLETELY useless in getting rid of www1.free-share-buttons.top ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f5bcb0b183b67586e10f7445d22cd543c1dfa05ea3992dcdac543429532177b6? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Awesome plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/awesome-plugin-2235/)󠁿 [Gulshan Kumar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thegulshankumar/) September 3, 2016 I liked this plugin and I proudly recommend to everyone. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6769c538769ed99d4d3af59de2e91549a3c1be4335cc6f30d84a1bb43fffd9b6? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Blocks some not others](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocks-some-not-others/)󠁿 [sitenista](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sitenista/) September 3, 2016 1 reply Downloaded this plugin as my referral report in analytics was completely distorted by referral spam, after downloading the plugin and following the two step process on the plugin page I saw that a lot of the spam traffic was disappearing from my report, which was great however the one site I wanted to get rid of most (the reason I downloaded the plugin in the first place) is still appearing on my reports ‘Rank- checker.online’ I turned to the support page for help however the response is so far non existent, I would just love some help on this really as the software can clearly do the job on the other referee’s. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1e9421329239184b2525606b116495f2b84107b115a9b269835bdc6cec1e53d9? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[This Plugin is A Good Idea!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/this-plugin-is-a-good-idea/)󠁿 [Fairy-Rider](https://profiles.wordpress.org/fairy-rider/) September 3, 2016 With this plugin is can really block bots that were spamming my analytics. Now I can protect my site from these potentially unwanted clickbots, brute-force attacks, and other spambots. That can also block spamdexers too. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/607a75a323bb5c563b3a250f15148b29c34696da8a285fde9b8ab520414efb43? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Awesome](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/awesome-3233/)󠁿 [beyondthescene](https://profiles.wordpress.org/beyondthescene/) September 3, 2016 Sweet plugin, thanks. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/49c6deab739a59e2c2379758ddfdc30f049e68cad4b1235344f87c4e5060215a? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Very useful](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/very-useful-842/)󠁿 [toricksshoes](https://profiles.wordpress.org/toricksshoes/) September 3, 2016 Very useful plugin, my analytics was getting overrun with spam – I even had more spam traffic than genuine traffic at one point 🙁 Now the spam is no more! [ Read all 18 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Bot Block – Stop Spam Referrals in Google Analytics” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Ricky Dawn ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thiswebguy/) [Translate “Bot Block – Stop Spam Referrals in Google Analytics” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 2.6 * Added screenshots to the plugin page on WordPress.org #### 2.5 * Added compatability for WordPress 4.4.2 * Hopefully fixed the empty needle error #### 2.4 * Added compatability for WordPress 4.4 #### 2.3 * Added compatability for WordPress 4.3.1 #### 2.2 * Data now gets sent and received daily instead of hourly. #### 2.0 * Fixed conflict with loading page plugin. #### 1.9 * Minor updates. #### 1.8 * Added notice to direct people to the second step to block 100% of the referral spam. #### 1.2 * Minor update to fix image in plugin options. #### 1.1 * Updated copy on plugin settings page and edited readme file. ## Meta * Version **2.6** * Last updated **10 years ago** * Active installations **600+** * WordPress version ** 3.9 or higher ** * Tested up to **4.4.34** * Tags * [google](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/google/)[google analytics](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/google-analytics/) [seo](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/advanced/) ## Ratings 4.2 out of 5 stars. * [ 12 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 1 3-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 1 2-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 2 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/?filter=1) [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Ricky Dawn ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thiswebguy/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/bot-block-stop-spam-google-analytics-referrals/)