Google Analytics – how to exclude your traffic by cookie without creating files (like on blogs)

I have a blog (actually, I’ve had it on Blogger, which does not allow to upload files but images).

I wanted to monitor the traffic with Google Analytics, but myself-generated traffic introduced unwanted info in the statistics.

I could exlude my traffic by IP, but I have a dynamic IP, so…

I made it work using a filter:

Solution one (the official one, need to upload a file)

• Create a page (let’s name it ‘exclude.html’) in the website/blog and paste in that webpage the analytics code.
• Modify the body tag in this way:
  body onLoad=”javascript:__utmSetVar(‘exclude_me’)”
  This will set an Analytics cookie
• Browse to that file from the browser[s] you want to exclude from statistics (that page should not be public linked)
• Create a filter (from Google Analytics) setting it this way:
  Kind: custom
  Exclude by filter: user defined
  Pattern: exclude_me
  Upper/lower case: no
• You made it!

Solution two (setting the cookie manually, without needing to upload any file at all)

• Follow instructions of the first solution but set the cookie this way:
• View cookies in your browser of the website you are monitoring (if you use Firefox and Web Developer extension: “Cookies” > “View cookie informations”)
  Cookies starting with __utm are Analytic’s one
• Copy the starting id of the cookie, copy also the host
• Add a cookie (With Web Developer: “Cookies” > “Add cookie…”) with these parameters:
  Name: __utmv (two underscores)
  Value: [ID number you copied].exclude_me
  Host: [as you copied]
  Expires: [something like january 2999?, use the same syntax of other cookies!]
• You made it!