kapa.ai I have a question regarding the use of '$ip': '0' in user properties:
Does setting '$ip': '0' in a specific event disable geolocation tracking only for that single event, or does it permanently block location updates for the user profile?
If a user subsequently sends a request from a browser or app with a valid IP, will their user profile location be updated, or will the previous '0' setting prevent future overrides?
Thanks for clarifying!
Great questions! Here's a clarification on both points:
1. Scope of $ip: 0 โ Per-Request, Not Permanent
Setting $ip to 0 only affects the specific request in which it is included. It tells Mixpanel's ingestion API to skip geolocation parsing for that particular event or profile update โ it does not permanently block location updates for the user profile. [Ignore IP Address]
Note: $ip is used for profile payloads, while ip is used for event payloads.
2. Future Profile Location Updates Are Not Blocked
Because $ip: 0 is per-request, any subsequent profile update request that does not include $ip: 0 will trigger geolocation parsing based on the IP address of that new request. As the docs state:
"Every time you set profile properties, the geolocation properties are overwritten with the location of the profile set request." [Geolocation overview]
So if a user later sends a request from a browser or app with a valid IP address (and $ip: 0 is not set in that request), Mixpanel will update the user profile's geolocation based on that IP. The previous use of $ip: 0 has no lasting effect on future requests.
โน๏ธย Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
