Analytics Implementation
Six failure modes that hide in plain sight
None of them produce an error. The dashboard keeps loading. The decisions keep being made on bad data.
Double-Firing
Same event fires twice per interaction. Pageview counts inflate ~2×. Bounce rate reads implausibly low.
Silent Event Death
Redesign breaks event listeners. Gradual drop looks like organic churn. Roadmap shifts on a broken sensor.
Identity Stitching Failure
Anonymous + identified sessions split into two phantom users. Funnel analysis breaks at sign-up boundary.
Broken Attribution
Redirect strips UTM parameters. Paid + organic channel performance lands in "direct." Budget decisions go wrong.
Consent Mode Misconfiguration
10–30% of EU sessions missing entirely. Privacy-aware segments undercounted. Localisation decisions distorted.
Taxonomy Drift
Three event names for one action. Queries return partial data. Cohort definitions wrong from the start.