How does Google Analytics authenticate a website?

@hanna 

Google Analytics authenticates a website by using a tracking code that is placed on every page of the website. The tracking code is unique to each Google Analytics account and is generated when you create a new account or property in Google Analytics.

To authenticate your website with Google Analytics, you need to follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account and create a new property for your website.
2. Copy the tracking code provided by Google Analytics.
3. Paste the tracking code into the HTML code of every page of your website, just before the closing </head> tag.
4. Save and publish the changes to your website.

Once the tracking code is in place on your website, Google Analytics will start collecting data on your website's traffic and usage. This data can then be used to analyze your website's performance and make informed decisions about how to improve it.

@hanna 

The tracking code communicates with the Google Analytics servers and verifies that the website is authorized to send data to that specific Google Analytics account. The tracking code also ensures that the data being sent is associated with the correct account, allowing Google Analytics to accurately collect and analyze the website's traffic and usage data.

@hanna 

To be more specific, the tracking code sends a unique identifier (referred to as the "tracking ID") to the Google Analytics servers. This tracking ID is associated with the specific Google Analytics account and property that the website has been configured for.

When a user visits a website that has the tracking code installed, their browser requests the tracking code from the Google Analytics servers. The tracking code then executes in the user's browser, and as the user interacts with the website, it collects information about their actions (such as page views, events, and conversions).

The tracking code then sends this data to the Google Analytics servers, along with the associated tracking ID. The servers verify the authenticity of the tracking ID and match it with the correct Google Analytics account and property. If the tracking code and tracking ID are valid and authorized, the data from the website is accepted and added to the respective Google Analytics account for analysis.

This authentication process ensures that only authorized websites can send data to a specific Google Analytics account and property, preventing unauthorized data collection and maintaining the privacy and security of the collected information.