Where this fits in the Get Started sequence: This is article 5 of 5. Use it after How to Use SearchStax Analytics to Improve Search Relevance and Levers You Can Use to Influence Relevance, before you interpret trend shifts after optimization changes.
Site Search Analytics uses cookies to track search behavior. If you own analytics outcomes, you should understand what each cookie does, how the platform identifies sessions, and when to involve your technical team.
Which Analytics Cookies Are Used
Site Search Analytics uses two primary cookies:
-
ms_visitorid: Uniquely identifies a visitor. -
searchstax_session_id: Uniquely identifies a user session.
Note: In the Legacy Vue2 accelerator, the session cookie name was searchcookie.
How Cookies and Sessions Affect Analytics Views
Analytics pages use visitor and session context to summarize search behavior. That context helps your team interpret metrics and trend changes over time.
When you review performance, remember that the session cookie affects session-level context, while the visitor cookie affects visitor-level context.
When Cookie Controls Need Technical Changes
If your privacy or consent requirements call for stopping SearchStax cookie generation, your technical team will need to implement that behavior in your search UI.
- Search UI App v3 (deprecated) required direct code changes.
- UI Kits v4 supports the same outcome through
searchstax.setCookiesDisabled().
For implementation details, see UI Kits v4, and work with your developers to make the change.
Marketer Workflow for Cookie Changes
- Confirm privacy and consent requirements with your legal or compliance stakeholders.
- Work with your technical team to implement the cookie behavior in your search UI.
- Monitor analytics trends after implementation and compare equivalent date ranges.
If you need product-specific clarification, contact the SearchStax Support Desk.
Next Steps
Continue to Use Searches to Find High-Impact Queries and Content Gaps, then validate improvements before applying additional relevance levers.