What to change
Trace the complete fictional journey before changing exclusions. Determine whether the domain is an intermediary in the visitor's task or a genuine source of new visitors, then review the relevant platform configuration. A referral setting and cross-domain continuity address different questions, so ask the measurement owner to explain both where applicable. Keep the interpretation tied to the observed setup rather than promising that one exclusion will reconstruct every earlier source.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: The analyst can explain the recorded source at each boundary of the test journey. A fictional campaign visitor may leave for an intermediate payment provider and return to the practice site. The analyst shows how source information changes at each boundary under the present configuration. The team identifies the provider's role before choosing a setting, then documents what continuity is supported. The result is an explained test journey, not a promise that changing one exclusion will recover every unknown source in historical reports.
What this means for your practice
A visitor may leave your site for a provider and return afterwards. The acquisition report can then show that provider as the source, even though the original arrival came from a campaign. Ask your measurement owner to trace the whole fictional journey before changing settings. An intermediary completing a task is different from a partner sending genuinely new visitors. The supplier should explain the relevant referral treatment and any cross-domain continuity separately, since they address different questions. One setting should not be presented as a universal repair for every previous attribution gap. Record what the demonstrated setup can establish and where the report's limitations remain.
How to check the result
The chosen setting matches the provider's actual role and its reporting limits are documented.
A mistake to avoid
Changing a referral exclusion does not repair every cross-domain problem.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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