Oh boy, here we go again! While I was cleaning up the Google Analytics data for one of my client’s websites, I noticed a new referrer spammer domain called Chinese-Amezon.com. This spam is usually not malicious, although it does make your Google Analytics data inaccurate. For instructions on how to remove this spam, read the next section.
If you’ve also seen these referral sites in your Google Analytics data, then you should know that this referral spam is not malicious, although it’s best to avoid visiting any referral spam websites after the phishing attack that Trafficmonetize used against its visitors.
How To Block Chinese-Amezon.com Spam: Filter Method
I created the instructions below using both images and text to make it easier for you to understand and follow the guide. The important parts of the page that you need to click or interact with are marked with a red circle.
1. Go To The Google Analytics Website And Log Into Your Account
You can visit the website by clicking the URL in the heading or by clicking here.
2. Go To Your “Admin” Tab
The admin tab is right next to the ‘Customisation’ tab to the far right of the Google Analytics logo.
3. Click On “Filters” Under The “View” Section
Once you’re on the admin page, go to the 3rd column called “View” and click on “Filters”.
4. Click On “+New Filter”
There’s a big red button on the page that says “+New Filter”. It’s pretty hard to miss, so click it.
5. Enter The Information In The Image Below And Save
Normally, I would have an image here to show you how this would look in your Google Analytics Filters page, but since we’re going to be blocking 3 or more URLs, I’m going to skip the images and leave the instructions below:
- Click on ‘Create New Filter‘
- Under ‘Filter Information‘, click on ‘Custom‘
- Click the “Exclude‘ button
- Under ‘Filter Field‘, select ‘Campaign Source‘ from the drop-down list
- Under Filter Pattern, enter ‘Chinese-Amezon.com‘
- Click on ‘Save‘.
- Repeat steps 1 through 6 for site2 and site3.
Wait about an hour for the filter changes to take effect and you should be able to see your real Google Analytics data without the referrer spam in it.
How To Block Chinese-Amezon.com Spam: Htaccess Method
In every article I’ve written about ghost referrer spam, I never recommended using this method or the following method if the referrer spam is indeed ghost referrer spam that never actually visits your site as this method and the subsequent method are more suited for protecting your site from any possible sessions in the future from these sources. If you find that the traffic is taking up your server resources or you think that it may be malicious, then try using the following code in your htaccess, which should block every variation of the URL from landing on your webstie.
# Referrer SPAM
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
# Chinese-Amezon
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^.]+\.)*Chinese-Amezon\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.Chinese-Amezon.com [R=301,L]
How To Block Chinese-Amezon.com Spam: Deflecting Method
This is not also not a recommended method, but you can create a text file called “deflector.map” and add the following code to it (be sure to include site2 and site3 in the code):
#
## deflector.map
##
##referer –> redirect target
http://Chinese-Amezon.com http://Chinese-Amezon.com
After that, you’re going to want to add the following code to your .htaccess
RewriteMap deflector txt:/path/to/deflector.map
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !=””
RewriteCond ${deflector:%{HTTP_REFERER}} =-
RewriteRule ^ %{HTTP_REFERER} [R,L]
Why Does Chinese-Amezon Referrer Spam Occur?
Chinese-Amezon.com actually redirects to AliExpress, although examining the full URL suggests that an affiliate marketer is behind this specific type of spam. For those of you who do not know what an affiliate marketer is, they are Internet marketers who are usually paid on a commission basis to promote the products of others using an affiliate URL.