What is the "Direct Access" traffic source?
Most of the time, the Direct Access traffic source corresponds to a user who directly types in your URL or has saved it in their favorites (bookmarks).
More broadly, Direct Access includes any visit where Piano Analytics cannot reliably identify a previous page (referrer) or where the referrer is your own site. In other words, any access that does not keep a trace of the previous page will be considered Direct Access (for example, certain email software, some redirections, or other contexts that do not pass referrer information).
Direct Access is categorized as a natural source.
Why a visit can be attributed to Direct Access
Piano Analytics uses the browser referrer (captured on the first page.display of the visit) to determine the traffic source. This referrer is reflected in properties such as previous_url. If:
the referrer is empty (no previous URL can be retrieved), the visit is considered Direct Access (out of site), or
the referrer is present but the domain matches your own site, the visit is considered Direct Access (continuity of visit).
Technical constraints can also prevent referrer collection and therefore increase Direct Access, including (but not limited to) browser/app behaviors and privacy/security rules such as redirects, links with rel="noreferrer", and strict referrer policies (for example strict-origin-when-cross-origin).
The 3 types of Direct Access
We can differentiate 3 types of direct access:
1) Direct access (continuity of visit)
A page of your own site is the referrer.
A common cause is the continuity of visits: after 30 minutes of inactivity (default value), a new visit is created when the visitor triggers activity again (for example, refreshes or navigates). If the referrer at that time is a page on your own domain, the source is Direct Access (continuity of visit).
2) Direct access (out of site)
Access to your site without referrer.
This typically happens when the visitor: - types the URL directly, - uses a bookmark, - clicks a link from an environment that does not transmit referrer information (for example, some email clients, some applications, certain redirects).
In reporting, this often results in an empty referrer / previous_url (commonly shown as N/A for “Source - URL”).
3) Direct access (local)
The user lands on your site after clicking on a webpage that is hosted on their local hard drive.
This frequently occurs in testing or development contexts (for example, a file:///... page or a referrer containing localhost).
Important note about attribution within a visit
Piano attributes a visit to the first source encountered. If a visitor starts a visit as Direct Access and then clicks a tagged campaign link within the same visit, the visit remains attributed to the initial Direct Access source.
Troubleshooting unexpected increases in Direct Access
If you notice an unusual spike in Direct Access, common causes include:
Referrer not transmitted due to redirects, referrer policies,
rel="noreferrer", in-app browsers, or external applications that open links without referrer information.Tagging issues that prevent correct source attribution (for example, a missing or misfiring tag on landing pages).
Recently added third-party tools (chat widgets, consent/privacy tools, etc.) that affect navigation, redirects, or referrer behavior.
Exempt mode considerations (when applicable): marketing campaign attribution may be reduced if campaign information is not collected in that mode; if no other referrer is present, the traffic will end up in Direct Access.
Bot attack, bots usually don’t have a referrer.