Frequently Asked Questions
Clear, detailed answers to common questions about BYOViral cookieless tracking, setup, privacy and analytics features.
How does BYOViral track website visitors without using cookies?
BYOViral tracking script executes asynchronously and writes zero cookies, local storage records, or persistent client-side identifiers to the visitor device. Instead, pageviews are recorded server-side and grouped into sessions using an ephemeral salted hash derived from the request IP and User-Agent with a 30-minute idle threshold.
Do I need a GDPR or ePrivacy cookie consent banner to use BYOViral?
The BYOViral script stores nothing on visitors' devices, so it does not rely on cookie consent the way cookie-based analytics does. BYOViral does process IP addresses, which are personal data under the GDPR, so mention it in your privacy notice. Whether your site needs a banner overall depends on the other tools it loads and the rules where your visitors are; this is not legal advice.
How quickly do visitor statistics appear in my dashboard?
Real-time telemetry appears within seconds of an actual pageview occurring. You can observe live active readers on the Online Now panel without waiting for delayed batch processing.
How does BYOViral filter bots, spiders, and scrapers?
Incoming requests are validated against Autonomous System Number (ASN) registries via DB-IP and MaxMind GeoLite2 databases. Requests from cloud datacenters (like AWS, DigitalOcean, and Hetzner) or known automated scrapers are isolated into a separate log and excluded from all visitor and pageview totals.
Can I track multiple websites under a single account?
Yes. BYOViral supports unlimited websites under a single account on all tiers, including the permanent free plan, making it practical for agencies and multi-site publishers.
What is the difference between private and public website visibility?
Private websites can only be viewed by the authenticated account owner. Public websites enable the optional Traffic Proof Badge and generate a search-indexed public profile page at /site/yourdomain.com.
How does the Traffic Proof Badge work, and is it required?
The Traffic Proof Badge shows this month's visitors and your rank among public BYOViral sites. It comes with listing a site publicly; you can keep any website private instead.
What data is stored in the visitor log, and how long is it kept?
The detailed visitor log is a rolling buffer (up to 500 visits on Free, 10,000 on Premium, 100,000 on Ultra) that records recent page paths, referrers, and approximate locations. When the queue rolls over, older records are deleted, while daily aggregate totals are preserved permanently.
How does BYOViral determine a visitor's location and device type?
Geographic information (country, region, city) is derived from the request IP address via MaxMind GeoLite2 databases. Browser type, operating system, and device category are parsed from the HTTP User-Agent header.
Does BYOViral provide website uptime monitoring?
Yes. On enabled accounts, BYOViral performs periodic HTTP availability checks, recording status codes, response times, and 30-day uptime percentages with email notifications during outages.
Can I run BYOViral alongside Google Analytics or another tool?
Yes. The lightweight BYOViral script executes asynchronously and operates independently without namespace conflicts, allowing you to run it concurrently with GA4, Plausible, or Matomo.
Will installing the tracking script slow down my website?
No. The BYOViral script is about 650 bytes (roughly 0.4 KB gzipped) and loads asynchronously, so it does not hold up page rendering.
How do I migrate from Google Analytics 4 to BYOViral?
Sign up for a free account, register your website domain name, copy the single-line script tag, and paste it into your website template header. You can remove the old GA4 snippet immediately or run both in parallel during evaluation.
Is there an API available for programmatic data extraction?
Yes. Account holders on the Ultra plan ($9/month) have access to a REST API to query daily visitor totals and dimension statistics programmatically for custom dashboards.
Can I export my analytics data?
Yes. Accounts on paid tiers can export analytics metrics and visitor reports directly to CSV files for use in spreadsheets or client reporting decks.
What SEO tools are included with a BYOViral account?
Every account includes access to 39 webmaster utilities, including Word Counter, UTM Campaign Builder, SSL Checker, DNS Lookup, HTTP Header Inspector, and JSON Validator.
How can I contact the BYOViral team for support or privacy inquiries?
You can submit an inquiry through our contact form at /contact or email [email protected] directly.