Google Analytics Users Plagued by Referral Spam Surge from Poland

Amidst the growing chorus of grievances, numerous threads have emerged within the forum With over a thousand posts documenting the issue, it's evident that the problem is pervasive and demands urgent attention from Google's GA4 Team:

• Referral Spam news grets store (Poland)
• Traffic from Warsaw Poland
• Referral Spam from news.grets.store (Poland)
• unexpected increase in traffic from Poland
• Poland traffic out of control
• Fake traffic hits from Poland are skewing results.

In this instance, websites are being bombarded with traffic purportedly emanating from Polish domains, a tactic aimed at skewing analytics data and misleading site owners.
Among the litany of complaints, several specific domains have been identified as major perpetrators of this spam onslaught. Websites are reporting an influx of fake referral traffic from domains such as:

news.grets.store
games.patlik.site
rida.tokyo
static.seders.website
info.seders.websitx
ofer.bartikus.sitx
game.fertuk.sitx
garold.dertus.sitx
kar.razas.sitx
trast.mantero.onlinx

and more. These domains, though seemingly innocuous, serve as conduits for the dissemination of fraudulent traffic, undermining the integrity of website analytics.
In a bid to stem the tide of fake traffic, vigilant site administrators have resorted to blocking the IP addresses associated with the spam attacks. A list of identified IP addresses, including:

54.149.229.186
44.237.81.149
54.148.22.225
54.186.203.133
38.180.120.84
77.222.40.224
45.140.19.173

has been circulated within the community as part of a collective effort to mitigate the impact of the spam surge.
However, as the perpetrators adapt their tactics, it's clear that a more comprehensive approach is needed to effectively combat the menace of referral spam. While interim measures such as IP blocking provide temporary relief, a long-term solution necessitates proactive intervention from Google's GA4 Team to implement robust safeguards against spam attacks.
In the absence of a definitive resolution from Google, the affected community remains steadfast in their resolve to thwart the spam onslaught. As new battle tactics are devised and shared within the community, site owners are urged to remain vigilant and proactive in safeguarding their analytics data against manipulation.

How to Fix Referral Spam Traffic Spikes in Google Analytics 4

To effectively resolve the persistent issue of referral spam from Poland infiltrating Google Analytics accounts, site owners must implement a comprehensive strategy to block harmful sites and IP addresses. Here's a detailed guide on how to safeguard your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data:

Blocking the Referral:

• Access Your GA4 Account: Log in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the relevant GA4 property.
• Identify Problematic Referrals: Use the "Report Acquisition" and navigate to "Traffic Acquisition." Change the primary dimension to "Session Source/Medium" to identify the referral sources, such as "news.grets.store."
• Access Admin Settings: Click on "Admin" to access the administrative settings for your GA4 property.
• Select Data Streams: Under Admin, click on "Data Streams" to manage the data stream associated with your website. You may have multiple data streams.
• Configure Tag Settings: Scroll down and click on "Configure Tag Settings" for the desired data stream.
• Expand Settings: Click on "Show More" to reveal additional configuration options.
• List Unwanted Referrals: Click on "List Unwanted Referrals" to specify referral sources that you want to block.
• Add Referral Domains: In the "Domain" field, select "Referral Domain Contains" from the dropdown menu. Then, add the problematic referral domains, such as "news.grets.store," one by one.
• Save Changes: After adding the unwanted referral domains, click "Save" to apply the changes and block them from influencing your analytics data.

Blocking the IP Address of the Harmful Site:

• Define Internal Traffic: Within the GA4 settings, navigate to "Define Internal Traffic" to block IP addresses associated with harmful sites.
• Create a New Rule: Click on "Create" to define a new rule for blocking IP addresses.
• Name Your Rule: Give your rule a descriptive name, such as "Poland Spam Traffic."
• Specify IP Address Matching: Choose "IP Address Equals" from the dropdown menu to specify exact IP addresses.
• Add IP Addresses: Enter the IP addresses associated with the spam traffic one by one.
• Save Rule: After adding the IP addresses, click "Create" to save the rule and block the specified IP addresses.
• Exit Settings: Exit the Google Tag Pane to return to the main settings.
• Close Web Stream Details: Close the Web Stream Details section to finalize the configuration.
• Access Data Filters: Click on "Data Filters" in the left-hand navigation to manage data filters for your GA4 property.
• Select Testing Filter: Under the "Current State" column, select "Testing" for the filter you created.
• Activate Filter: Click on the "Active" field to activate the filter and apply it to your GA4 data.
• Save Changes: Finally, click "Save" to confirm the activation of the filter and apply the blocking of IP addresses.