How Search Captures Analytics | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

What You’ll Learn

In this section, you will learn:

• How we track Analytics in Search
• Search compliance implications
• Pushing Analytics directly to clients

How we track Analytics in Search

Yext Search uses session cookies and sessionStorage to associate distinct events to the same user. When a user enters the search experience on the home page, the Search JS library tags the user with a sessionId. This tag will only persist as long as the user’s browser is open.

As noted in the previous units, the available data points associated with a sessionId can be found below:

• Location (via IP lookup/city-level accuracy)
• Date/Time
• User Agent
• Search Text
• Results Returned
• Engagement Metrics (i.e. the Analytics events covered in Unit 2)

Yext Search abides by GDPR and CCPA best practices. Search should handle consent management in the same way the client’s website does (i.e. through a pop-up banner). More information on how to do this can be found in this guide . Search does not track personal data or unique users (only unique sessions). Search does not track anything a user does outside of the Search experience. Additionally, users need to explicitly opt in to have their location tracked by Search for “near me” searches.

You can also choose to opt out of using sessionStorage in Search entirely. This will mean the Analytics for the search experience will not be associated with a sessionId, however you’ll still be able to see the metrics noted above for each individual search.

Pushing Analytics directly to clients

You may be asked by a client if the Analytics metrics you’ve learned about in this module can be pushed directly to their Analytics provider (such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics). As you learned in the Frontend Overview module , you’ll need the client to provide their requirements (which data points/events they want to track) along with implementation instructions to support. We also have a built-in and easy to use mechanism for Google Tag Manager. For those familiar with GTM, you need to provide both your Google Tag Manager Name and your Google Tag Manager ID to make this work.