Understanding Mixpanel's Search Engine Indicator and (not set) Data

Nana H. · 2025-01-14 04:25:19.723797+00

Hi, Can I please know how the indicator - Search Engine is recorded by Mixpanel? I found out there's a lot of (not set) in my data though.

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Understanding Mixpanel's Search Engine Indicator and (not set) Data | Mixpanel Community

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kapa.ai
APP
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To answer your question about how the "Search Engine" indicator is recorded by Mixpanel and why you're seeing a lot of "(not set)" values, I'll provide information based on the relevant knowledge sources: Mixpanel automatically collects a property called "$search_engine" for web implementations. This is described in the Default Properties documentation as "The search engine that the customer used when they arrived at your domain."However, it's important to note that this property might not always be set, which could explain why you're seeing many "(not set)" values in your data. There are a few reasons why this might occur: 1. Direct traffic: If users come directly to your site without using a search engine, this property would not be set.2. Referrer information not available: If the referring website adds the rel="noreferrer" parameter or if the user's browser doesn't provide referrer information, Mixpanel might not be able to determine the search engine.3. Non-search engine traffic: Traffic from sources other than search engines (e.g., social media, email links) would not have this property set.The presence of "(not set)" values is normal and doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with your implementation. As explained in the Debugging documentation, "(not set) refers to the events where a property value has not been set at tracking/ingestion."If you're concerned about the high number of "(not set)" values, you might want to: 1. Check if the property is being correctly tracked for known search engine traffic. 2. Consider implementing additional tracking to capture traffic sources more comprehensively. 3. Use other properties like "$initial_referrer" and "$initial_referring_domain" to get a broader picture of where your traffic is coming from.Remember that the absence of a search engine value doesn't mean the data is incorrect; it simply indicates that Mixpanel couldn't determine a search engine for those particular events.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.

kapa.ai
APP
·
·
To answer your question about how the "Search Engine" indicator is recorded by Mixpanel and why you're seeing a lot of "(not set)" values, I'll provide information based on the relevant knowledge sources: Mixpanel automatically collects a property called "$search_engine" for web implementations. This is described in the Default Properties documentation as "The search engine that the customer used when they arrived at your domain."However, it's important to note that this property might not always be set, which could explain why you're seeing many "(not set)" values in your data. There are a few reasons why this might occur: 1. Direct traffic: If users come directly to your site without using a search engine, this property would not be set.2. Referrer information not available: If the referring website adds the rel="noreferrer" parameter or if the user's browser doesn't provide referrer information, Mixpanel might not be able to determine the search engine.3. Non-search engine traffic: Traffic from sources other than search engines (e.g., social media, email links) would not have this property set.The presence of "(not set)" values is normal and doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with your implementation. As explained in the Debugging documentation, "(not set) refers to the events where a property value has not been set at tracking/ingestion."If you're concerned about the high number of "(not set)" values, you might want to: 1. Check if the property is being correctly tracked for known search engine traffic. 2. Consider implementing additional tracking to capture traffic sources more comprehensively. 3. Use other properties like "$initial_referrer" and "$initial_referring_domain" to get a broader picture of where your traffic is coming from.Remember that the absence of a search engine value doesn't mean the data is incorrect; it simply indicates that Mixpanel couldn't determine a search engine for those particular events.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.