Why is Traffic Source / Referrer set to Direct?

As explained in the “What is Traffic Source?” FAQ, the Traffic Source field collects data from the referring URL (document.referer). If there is not a custom Traffic Source rule for the given referring URL, then the Traffic Source will be set to the domain name of the referring URL.  However, what happens if the referring URL is empty? Instead of displaying an empty row for Traffic Source, Blue Triangle will set the Traffic Source to “Direct”.

Here are some common cases where the referring URL might be blank:

• Using a browser bookmark to navigate to the site directly
• Manually typing in the URL
• Including address bar autocomplete
• Navigating from a URL on HTTP to a URL on HTTPS
• This can include navigating between domains on HTTPS URLs if the referrer field is getting blocked
• Copying/pasting the URL
• If the URL is the first page on that website in that window/tab
• Clicking on a link that opens a new window or tab
• If the URL is the first page on that website in that window/tab
• If the referrer is stripped from the request for any reason
• This includes using particular proxy, antivirus, firewall, security, etc. software
• If the referrer header is not set in the first place
• Such as a bot navigating to the site programmatically (including via cURL requests, although the btt.js may not load on those page views depending on the bot configuration)
• This can also include custom 404 pages if the server is not configured to set the referrer
• If the page is opened on a mobile device through another app
• Such as clicking on an advertisement for the website in the Snapchat/TikTok/Instagram/etc. app