{"id":102031,"date":"2025-03-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/?p=102031"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:19:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T16:19:25","slug":"google-analytics-filters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#8217;s Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can use <strong>Data Filters<\/strong> to include or exclude event data from being recorded by the platform. New data filters will take effect from the point they\u2019re created, but they won\u2019t affect your historical GA4 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data filters apply a permanent change to your data. For example, if you exclude certain data from being processed by GA4, you won\u2019t be able to retrieve that data in the future. If you want to hide your data without losing access to it, you must use the feature <strong>Report Filters<\/strong> instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Evolution of Data Filters: GA3 VS GA4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the last version of GA (Universal Analytics or GA3), users had access to two key features: <strong>Views <\/strong>and<strong> Filters<\/strong>. You could create a new view and then set up tons of filters that would exclude any data you considered unnecessary for live monitoring or an upcoming report. Views were a staple feature of GA3, allowing users to analyze metrics such as pageviews, events, and sessions in ways that didn\u2019t affect the incoming raw data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, this was a great way to segment information and get granular control of your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the forced move to GA4, the intricacies and details of all these features have been eliminated. The former views and filters have now been replaced with data filters, and, to some extent, <strong>Data Streams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A data stream is an information channel that sends data from its source back to your GA4 properties, which can be your site, app, or another digital platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, views in GA3 have now been replaced with data streams, and what used to be filtered are now data filters in GA4. The consensus among professionals who actively used GA3 before the latest changes is uniform: the new additions are not as helpful, and, in some cases, are even detrimental to the actual needs of regular GA users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Only 2 Data Filters that Google Analytics 4 Lets You Set Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two types of data filters in GA4:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Developer traffic<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Internal traffic<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can access filter types by navigating to <strong>Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters<\/strong>, and clicking on any existing filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\" alt=\"GA4 example for how to access filter types by navigating to Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters, and clicking on an existing filter. \" class=\"wp-image-102034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow-300x196.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114655\/GA4-Filters-Edit-Data-Filter.png\" alt=\"GA4 edit data filter menu with the internal traffic selection highlighted. \" class=\"wp-image-102035\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114655\/GA4-Filters-Edit-Data-Filter.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114655\/GA4-Filters-Edit-Data-Filter-300x148.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Developer traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, you\u2019ll have one or multiple developers working on your website or application using debug mode and DebugView (collectively referred to as debug tracking setups) in GA4. And, since your target audience isn\u2019t developers hired and paid for by yourself, it\u2019s important to exclude their incoming traffic. This traffic, known as <strong>developer traffic<\/strong>, can skew your analytics by adding in developer activity instead of tracking site hits from genuine visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, you can create up to 10 different data filters per GA4 property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To create a developer filter, you must be logged in as an Editor or an Administrator in your GA4 account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Once you\u2019re logged in, navigate to <strong>Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters<\/strong>, and click <strong>Create filter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114752\/GA4-Filters-Create-Filter-Button.png\" alt=\"Example in GA4 to show how to navigate to Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters, and arrow pointing to click Create filter. \" class=\"wp-image-102036\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114752\/GA4-Filters-Create-Filter-Button.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114752\/GA4-Filters-Create-Filter-Button-300x160.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Then, choose <strong>Developer traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"321\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114836\/GA4-Filters-Create-Developer-Traffic-Filter.png\" alt=\"GA4 create data filter menu with red arrow pointing to Developer traffic selection.\" class=\"wp-image-102037\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114836\/GA4-Filters-Create-Developer-Traffic-Filter.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114836\/GA4-Filters-Create-Developer-Traffic-Filter-300x143.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Name your data filter, and choose <strong>exclude<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115029\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Details-Menu.png\" alt=\"Filter details menu with option to name filter and choose exclude option.\" class=\"wp-image-102039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115029\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Details-Menu.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115029\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Details-Menu-300x126.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Next, choose between <strong>Testing<\/strong>, <strong>Active<\/strong>, and <strong>Inactive<\/strong> to select your filter\u2019s state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115045\/GA4-Filters-Filter-State-Testing.png\" alt=\"GA4 Filter state menu with Testing option selected. \" class=\"wp-image-102040\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115045\/GA4-Filters-Filter-State-Testing.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115045\/GA4-Filters-Filter-State-Testing-300x95.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Finally, click <strong>Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115137\/GA4-Filters-Create-Data-Filter.png\" alt=\"Create data filter menu in GA4 with red arrow pointing to create button. \" class=\"wp-image-102041\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115137\/GA4-Filters-Create-Data-Filter.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115137\/GA4-Filters-Create-Data-Filter-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It can take up to 38 hours for your new filter to start excluding developer traffic from your analytics reports. However, you can still access the excluded data by navigating to the <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/7201382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DebugView<\/a> report in GA4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Internal traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, people working at your company, such as business associates, freelancers, contractors, or in-house employees, will\u2014either intentionally or not\u2014land on your website. Collectively, their actions are referred to as <strong>internal traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, people who generate internal traffic should not be considered commercially incentivized visitors, since their intent is not the same as someone who wants to buy, rent, or download something from your website (with some exceptions). Barring these exceptions, however, you generally want to exclude internal traffic from your GA4 reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: if you exclude developer traffic via the internal traffic function, your developers won\u2019t be able to view the excluded traffic in GA4\u2019s DebugView.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By default, every GA4 property comes with a set internal traffic data filter in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/ab-testing-google-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testing state<\/a>. This means the filter is not active.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. To activate the internal traffic filter, navigate to <strong>Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters<\/strong>, and click the filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115210\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic.png\" alt=\"Example for how to activate the internal traffic filter in GA4, with red arrow pointing to click the filter.\" class=\"wp-image-102042\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115210\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115210\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-300x158.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Choose a name for the filter, and choose <strong>exclude<\/strong> as your preferred filter operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115336\/GA4-Filters-Details.png\" alt=\"Filter details menu in GA4 with option to name filter. \" class=\"wp-image-102044\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115336\/GA4-Filters-Details.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115336\/GA4-Filters-Details-300x144.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Next, change the name in the <strong>Parameter value<\/strong> field if you want to add multiple internal traffic filters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115357\/GA4-Filters-Parameter-Value.png\" alt=\"Name change example in the Parameter value field in GA4. \" class=\"wp-image-102045\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115357\/GA4-Filters-Parameter-Value.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115357\/GA4-Filters-Parameter-Value-300x123.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Select <strong>Active<\/strong>, and click <strong>Save<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115434\/GA4-Filters-Active-State.png\" alt=\"Edit data filter menu in GA4 with red arrows pointing to active selection and save button. \" class=\"wp-image-102046\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115434\/GA4-Filters-Active-State.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115434\/GA4-Filters-Active-State-300x215.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure to test any filters before applying lasting changes. Any changes are irreversible and will lead to permanent data exclusions once you create and activate a new internal traffic data filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115505\/GA4-Filters-Activate-Filter.png\" alt=\"Activate filter popup in GA4. \" class=\"wp-image-102047\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115505\/GA4-Filters-Activate-Filter.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115505\/GA4-Filters-Activate-Filter-300x131.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Google Analytics 4 Data Filters Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>GA4 data filters have multiple parameters you can set up according to your preferences. To access data filters, navigate to <strong>Data collection and modification &gt; Data filters<\/strong> from the left-hand side in the GA4 dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115533\/GA4-Filters-Data-Filters-Arrow.png\" alt=\"Red arrow pointing to data filters selection in GA4. \" class=\"wp-image-102048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115533\/GA4-Filters-Data-Filters-Arrow.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115533\/GA4-Filters-Data-Filters-Arrow-300x201.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you can\u2019t see the menu, type \u201cdata filters\u201d in the search bar, then click on the corresponding result that appears right below the search bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115609\/GA4-Filters-Search-Data-Filters.png\" alt=\"Example for how to search for data filters in GA4. \" class=\"wp-image-102049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115609\/GA4-Filters-Search-Data-Filters.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115609\/GA4-Filters-Search-Data-Filters-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cExclude\u201d VS \u201cInclude only\u201d data filters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Data filters have a number of parameters you can change depending on the results you want. In terms of <strong>Filter operation<\/strong>, you can set them to <strong>Exclude<\/strong> or <strong>Include only<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"423\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115638\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Operation-Exclude.png\" alt=\"Filter details menu with the exclude option selected for filter operation. \" class=\"wp-image-102050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115638\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Operation-Exclude.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115638\/GA4-Filters-Filter-Operation-Exclude-300x188.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When you choose the <em>exclude<\/em> option, GA4 will omit any event data that corresponds with the main data filter. In our example, the filter will NOT process events with the value of its stated parameter that matches <em>internal<\/em> traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115825\/GA4-Filters-Summary-Arrow.png\" alt=\"Filter details menu in GA4 with a red box and arrow pointing to the Summary at the bottom of the menu and the exclude option selected. \" class=\"wp-image-102052\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115825\/GA4-Filters-Summary-Arrow.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115825\/GA4-Filters-Summary-Arrow-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you set your filter operation to the <em>include only<\/em> option, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/why-is-google-analytics-inaccurate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Analytics<\/a> will let through only event data that corresponds to the main data filter. In our example, this data filter will ONLY process events with the value of its stated parameter that matches <em>internal<\/em> traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115709\/GA4-Filters-Summary.png\" alt=\"Filter details menu in GA4 with a red box and arrow pointing to the Summary at the bottom of the menu and the include option selected.\" class=\"wp-image-102051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115709\/GA4-Filters-Summary.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115709\/GA4-Filters-Summary-300x246.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three things to note regarding the <em>exclude<\/em> and <em>include only<\/em> filter options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you set up and activate both <em>exclude<\/em> and <em>include only<\/em> filters for a single GA4 property at the same time, the <em>include<\/em> filters will be considered first, while the <em>exclude<\/em> filters will be processed last in the logical chain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you add and activate multiple <em>include<\/em> filters for a single GA4 property, all the <em>include<\/em> filters will be processed as a single unit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you add and activate multiple <em>exclude<\/em> filters for a single GA4 property, each of the exclude filters will be processed one at a time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cParameter name\u201d and \u201cParameter value\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Parameter name<\/strong> and <strong>Parameter value<\/strong> options help you identify internal traffic. In contrast, developer traffic is defined by having the parameter name <strong>debug_mode<\/strong> or <strong>debug_event<\/strong> with the parameter value \u201c1\u201d automatically added to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to manually add a <strong>traffic_type<\/strong> parameter to incoming events and change\/edit its values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Navigate to <strong>Data collection and modification &gt; Data streams<\/strong>. Click an existing web data stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"351\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115912\/GA4-Filters-Data-Streams.png\" alt=\"Red arrow pointing to data streams selection in GA4 and red arrow pointing to a data stream shown. \" class=\"wp-image-102053\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115912\/GA4-Filters-Data-Streams.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26115912\/GA4-Filters-Data-Streams-300x156.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Scroll down and click <strong>Configure Tag settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120005\/GA4-Filters-Configure-Tag-Settings.png\" alt=\"Web stream details menu with red arrow pointing to configure tag settings selection. \" class=\"wp-image-102054\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120005\/GA4-Filters-Configure-Tag-Settings.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120005\/GA4-Filters-Configure-Tag-Settings-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Scroll down and click <strong>Show more<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"510\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120034\/GA4-Filters-Show-More.png\" alt=\"Google tag configuration menu with arrow pointing to show more drop down. \" class=\"wp-image-102055\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120034\/GA4-Filters-Show-More.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120034\/GA4-Filters-Show-More-300x227.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Click <strong>Define internal traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120105\/GA4-Filters-Define-Internal-Traffic.png\" alt=\"Google tag settings menu with the define internal traffic selection highlighted. \" class=\"wp-image-102056\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120105\/GA4-Filters-Define-Internal-Traffic.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120105\/GA4-Filters-Define-Internal-Traffic-300x224.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Click <strong>Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120143\/GA4-Filters-Traffic-Rules-Create.png\" alt=\"Define internal traffic menu with an arrow pointing to create button. \" class=\"wp-image-102057\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120143\/GA4-Filters-Traffic-Rules-Create.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120143\/GA4-Filters-Traffic-Rules-Create-300x70.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Enter a rule name and traffic_type value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"345\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120209\/GA4-Filters-Configuration.png\" alt=\"Create internal traffic rule menu in GA4 with arrows pointing to rule name and traffic_type value. \" class=\"wp-image-102058\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120209\/GA4-Filters-Configuration.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120209\/GA4-Filters-Configuration-300x153.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>7. Select an operator, then enter an IP address or a range of IP addresses that match your traffic rule as defined in Step #6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120241\/GA4-Filters-IP-addresses.png\" alt=\"Create internal traffic rule menu in GA4 with arrows pointing to IP addresses match type and value. \" class=\"wp-image-102059\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120241\/GA4-Filters-IP-addresses.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120241\/GA4-Filters-IP-addresses-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>8. Click <strong>Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120325\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Rule-Create-Button.png\" alt=\"Create internal traffic rule menu in GA4 with button pointing to create button. \" class=\"wp-image-102060\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120325\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Rule-Create-Button.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120325\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Rule-Create-Button-300x156.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cTesting\u201d, \u201cActive\u201d, and \u201cInactive\u201d filter states<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>GA4 data filters offer three states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Testing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Active<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inactive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120349\/GA4-Filters-Testing-State.png\" alt=\"Edit data filter menu in GA4 with the filter state options shown and the testing state selected. \" class=\"wp-image-102061\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120349\/GA4-Filters-Testing-State.png 675w, https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26120349\/GA4-Filters-Testing-State-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Testing state<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When your data filter is in the testing state, GA4 is considering it in the background, but the filter itself doesn\u2019t enact any permanent changes to your incoming traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use this state to test your new filter before making any permanent changes by switching it to the <em>active<\/em> state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Active state<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you set your data filter state to <em>active<\/em>, it enacts permanent changes to your incoming traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use this state to activate your new data filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Inactive state<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you switch your data filter state to <em>inactive<\/em>, you will effectively disable the filter, making it no longer possible for it to enact permanent changes to your incoming data streams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use this state to disable an existing data filter, or to prepare a new data filter for future use without enacting permanent changes to your incoming traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: switching between data filter states doesn\u2019t enact immediate changes. You might need to wait up to 30 minutes after applying a new filter before each new state takes place.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should You Use the New Google Analytics 4 Data Filters?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The consensus among web professionals is clear and unanimous: not a single person\u2014from professional web admins to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rookie marketers<\/a>\u2014recommends using the new GA4 data filters, citing a multipronged list of reasons why this is the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, most popular internet providers assign default IP addresses to their users by default, unless stated otherwise. These IP addresses are often changed and shuffled around without signaling prior notice to users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you decide to manually create traffic_type parameters in order to filter out internal traffic, these rules might become obsolete over time due to a sudden IP address change. Additionally, users can bypass these filters by employing commercial or homebrew VPNs, plugins, add-ons, and proxy servers, rendering your efforts ineffective to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, you also run the risk of blocking genuine incoming traffic when the IP address of one of your employees now gets reassigned to a potential customer outside of your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To solve this problem, you\u2019d need to manually go back and update each IP address individually, which isn\u2019t realistically feasible for medium and large companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Third, activating a data filter makes permanent changes to your incoming GA4 data streams. So, if your data filter breaks, you will be permanently left with skewed GA4 data, not being able to retrieve past data that was genuine but became lost during a troubleshooting event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting up data filters in GA4 is simply not worth the hassle. Screening out internal traffic was always considered a waste of resources\u2014even with past Google Analytics versions when most features and parameters worked as intended. The impact on traffic is always marginal, so you won\u2019t notice a difference either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the risk of sounding like an unwarranted tech obituary: RIP Google Analytics filters, you will be dearly missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can use Data Filters to include or exclude event data from being recorded by the platform. New data filters&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":102034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#039;s Why You Shouldn&#039;t Use Them<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#039;s Why You Shouldn&#039;t Use Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can use Data Filters to include or exclude event data from being recorded by the platform. New data filters...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Daily Egg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crazyegganalytics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrijan Arsovski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CrazyEgg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CrazyEgg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrijan Arsovski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adrijan Arsovski\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc08966529faf6ed01ce7911365fa9ec\"},\"headline\":\"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#8217;s Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Use Them\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1708,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/26114541\\\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Analytics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/\",\"name\":\"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here's Why You Shouldn't Use Them\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/26114541\\\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/26114541\\\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/26114541\\\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png\",\"width\":675,\"height\":440,\"caption\":\"GA4 example for how to access filter types by navigating to Data collection and modification > Data filters, and clicking on an existing filter.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/google-analytics-filters\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Analytics\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/analytics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#8217;s Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Use Them\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Daily Egg\",\"description\":\"Conversion Rate Optimization Made Easy\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Crazy Egg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Crazy-Egg-logo-small.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Crazy-Egg-logo-small.png\",\"width\":191,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Crazy Egg\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/crazyegganalytics\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/CrazyEgg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/crazy-egg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCJNe_xmPi07YezxaqfoRVqg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc08966529faf6ed01ce7911365fa9ec\",\"name\":\"Adrijan Arsovski\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Adrijan Arsovski\"},\"description\":\"Adrijan Arsovski is a professional content writer and copywriter with over 10 years of experience in marketing, optimization, and building websites. He passionately follows the latest tech trends to unravel the mysteries behind the written word. He resides in Skopje where he enjoys working out, reading trash novels, and participating in ad hominem discourse exchanges\u2014in which he\u2019s yet to win a single argument. His personal blog is adrijanarsovski.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.crazyegg.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/adrijan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here's Why You Shouldn't Use Them","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here's Why You Shouldn't Use Them","og_description":"In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can use Data Filters to include or exclude event data from being recorded by the platform. New data filters...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/","og_site_name":"The Daily Egg","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crazyegganalytics\/","article_published_time":"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":675,"height":440,"url":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Adrijan Arsovski","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CrazyEgg","twitter_site":"@CrazyEgg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adrijan Arsovski","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/"},"author":{"name":"Adrijan Arsovski","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bc08966529faf6ed01ce7911365fa9ec"},"headline":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#8217;s Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Use Them","datePublished":"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/"},"wordCount":1708,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png","articleSection":["Analytics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/","url":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/","name":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here's Why You Shouldn't Use Them","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png","datePublished":"2025-03-28T13:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/26114541\/GA4-Filters-Internal-Traffic-Arrow.png","width":675,"height":440,"caption":"GA4 example for how to access filter types by navigating to Data collection and modification > Data filters, and clicking on an existing filter."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/google-analytics-filters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Analytics","item":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/category\/analytics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Google Analytics (GA4) Allows Only 2 Filters\u2014Here&#8217;s Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Use Them"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/","name":"The Daily Egg","description":"Conversion Rate Optimization Made Easy","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Crazy Egg","url":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Crazy-Egg-logo-small.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Crazy-Egg-logo-small.png","width":191,"height":100,"caption":"Crazy Egg"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crazyegganalytics\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CrazyEgg","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/crazy-egg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCJNe_xmPi07YezxaqfoRVqg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bc08966529faf6ed01ce7911365fa9ec","name":"Adrijan Arsovski","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8362738fddc3daac146bd23ac4b0f88e12a6abff3bf25a59f81eda0bf15f57b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Adrijan Arsovski"},"description":"Adrijan Arsovski is a professional content writer and copywriter with over 10 years of experience in marketing, optimization, and building websites. He passionately follows the latest tech trends to unravel the mysteries behind the written word. He resides in Skopje where he enjoys working out, reading trash novels, and participating in ad hominem discourse exchanges\u2014in which he\u2019s yet to win a single argument. His personal blog is adrijanarsovski.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/author\/adrijan\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Lauren Knoll","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}