Analytics Spam Blocker
by Arnan de Gans · Analytics
Also makes 5 other plugins · 23K+ installs across the portfolio →
Prevent referrer spam from affecting your website analytics. Easily create a blocklist and receive new domains weekly to stay on top of the issue.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 71/100
no flags
Active installs
800+
≈850 estimated
Momentum
+30%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “analytics”, “antispam” and “spam” for “spam blocker”, “analytics spam” and “blocker”. “analytics” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spam blocker” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “antispam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “analytics spam” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “spam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “blocker” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
71 health vs 67 average across 1,826 Analytics plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.8%
of downloads still active
At least 800 of 44.8K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Analytics plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,007 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Analytics plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 12 reviews to 2024-05-22Reviewers say it does cut referral spam out of Google Analytics, though several report site errors from its .htaccess changes, ask for a way to add their own blocked domains, and one dropped their rating over admin upsell notices.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 308 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
3.9★ over 14 reviews, smoothed to 4.06★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
23%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| referral spam your tag | #3 | #8 | 0 |
| referrer spam your tag | #5 | #11 | up 1 |
| spam blocker | #5 | #11 | down 2 |
| analytics spam | #7 | #17 | down 2 |
| google analytics referral spam | #3 | #7 | 0 |
| blocker | #12 | #14 | down 4 |
| analytics blocker | #7 | #14 | down 1 |
| site blocker | #9 | #14 | 0 |
| google analytics spam | #11 | #20 | down 2 |
| analytics your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| antispam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
20 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 11 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “analytics”, “antispam” and “spam” for “spam blocker”, “analytics spam” and “blocker”. “analytics” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spam blocker” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “antispam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “analytics spam” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “spam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “blocker” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.5K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
10mo ago
latest release · v4.2 · 27 Dec 2025
34
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 47% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “800+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 7 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 7 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ primacreatrix2.4y ago
Wonderful plugin! This topic was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by primacreatrix. This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by primacreatrix. Reason: Wrote review for the wrong plugin
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous6.4y ago
This works much better than trying to maintain and update my own filter list in Google Analytics.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mborin7.9y ago
There needs to be a way for users to add domains to the list of blocked domains.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ donhz8.1y ago
Wait for 7 days then check your Referrers for that time people. Spam will be gone for that 7 days. This is to say the old bad Referrers don’t go away. But new ones are blocked as they should be. EDIT*** Lowered my rating. Regardless of how good or bad the plug-in may be, these developers insist on putting big beg notices on the Admin page. This is a rookie marketing error on their part. I have deleted the plug-in to get rid of their trash. Analytics Spam Blocker continued to beg for a review (even though I reviewed it before), and this is it. I think your Admin page noitces doom you to failure. This topic was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by donhz.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ DawneR8.3y ago
This is a great plugin that has really helped me ensure that my GA stats are real. I’ve recently started blogging, and I was really excited to see my pageviews go way up in one day, until I realized it was almost all fake. 🙁 As soon as I installed Analytics Spam Blocker, my stats went back to normal. The plugin was easy to install and I had no issues.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous9.3y ago
Works fairly well, but it needs some improvements. Modern Referral spam bots often use ‘look alike characters’ in domain names, characters from non-western alphabets resembling western characters. The function to report a spam domain however tells that the ‘domain name is not valid’. Like for example ḷ.com…
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jeff Rudd10.1y ago
I found it completely useless in getting rid of www1.free-share-buttons.top
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ M-Dubbs11.0y ago
Hi. Not sure why this is happening but after I activate this plugin my site becomes unreachable with error msg ”Website Loading Terminated.” – When I deactivate this plugin it goes away. Any idea whats going on?
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
5 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Prevent referrer spam from affecting your website analytics. Easily create a blocklist and receive new doma..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Google Analytics.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 946 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "antispam" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-04-07 900+ → 800+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-04-05 800+ → 900+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-04 900+ → 800+ down after 252 days in tier
- 2025-07-26 1K+ → 900+ down
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Block Referer Spam 500+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Friendly Captcha for WordPress 10K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Analytics Spam Blocker into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/analytics-spam-blocker" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Analytics Spam Blocker — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Analytics Spam Blocker: 800+ active installs, 3.9★ (14 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/analytics-spam-blocker
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