what is the difference between initial referring domain and referring domain? why is it that when I use referring domain, there is a huge proportion of traffic that is attributed to (not set)?
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To answer your question about the difference between initial referring domain and referring domain in Mixpanel, let me explain based on the provided information: 1. Initial Referring Domain: The initial referring domain is the domain from which a user first arrived at your site. This information is stored in the Mixpanel cookie when a user visits your site for the first time and doesn't change on future visits unless the cookie is cleared. It's a "first-touch" attribution property.2. Referring Domain: The referring domain is the domain from which a user came to your site for the current visit. This can change with each visit and represents the most recent referrer. It's more of a "last-touch" attribution property.Initial Referrer and Initial Referring Domain Properties explains: "Mixpanel's Javascript library will track Initial Referrer and Initial Referring Domain and append them as a property to any event that a user completes. These properties are stored in the Mixpanel cookie the first time a user comes to your site and will not change on future site visits as long as the cookie is not cleared."Regarding the large proportion of "(not set)" in your referring domain data, this could be due to several reasons: 1. Direct Traffic: When users type your URL directly into their browser or use a bookmark, there's no referring domain. This traffic would appear as "(not set)" or sometimes "$direct".2. Privacy Settings: Some users' browsers may have privacy settings that prevent referrer information from being passed.3. HTTPS to HTTP: If a user moves from an HTTPS site to an HTTP site, the referrer information is typically not passed for security reasons.4. Email Links: Clicks from email links often don't pass referrer information.Traffic Attribution mentions: "An initial referrer is equal to $direct when a user first lands on a site without being referred by another website. The user may have typed the website address directly, clicked a bookmark, clicked a link from an email, or might have security settings in their browser that prevent referrer data from being passed."To get more accurate referrer data, you might consider implementing UTM parameters for your marketing campaigns and ensuring that your tracking setup is correctly capturing referrer information where possible.
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