Calculation of Time Spent on the Browse Time by User Report

Question

Hi There

I need to know how the "Time Spent" value is determine for this report. Is it the actual time that a users is actively clicking through pages on the site? If they have a site open and then minimize their browser does the clock stop ticking? What if they open a PDF file and spend time reading that - does it still accumulate as time spent on the source web site?

I have looked through the documentation and have not been able to find really throrough descriptions of the reports - there doesn't seem to be anything beyond button pushing instructions. Is there reference material available that really explains the data this is being presented?

Thanks,

Karen

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TomA · Accepted Answer

Hi Karen,

This post might help:

/search?q= 13773

fghjgf wrote:
Is it the actual time that a users is actively clicking through pages on the site? What if they open a PDF file and spend time reading that - does it still accumulate as time spent on the source web site

We calculate this based on HTTP requests so the actual result will depend on the website.

A HTTP request will be generated when a user clinks on a link, but some pages may also make automated HTTP requests (like when a page refreshes itself). These HTTP requests will obviously add to the browsing time even if the user is not actually looking at the page (the proxy has no way of knowing).

Something like a PDF download I would expect to only be counted once (maximum 3 minutes browse time), because the download should be a single HTTP request

You can also click on the username in the report to see a 'By User' search - this will show all the traffic.

Hope this helps,

Tom.