Dark Social
Content sharing that happens through private channels like messaging apps and email, which standard web analytics cannot attribute to its true source.
Explanation
Journalist Alexis Madrigal coined the term in a 2012 article for The Atlantic, after noticing that a large share of the site's traffic was logged as "direct" in analytics tools even though those visitors had actually arrived via links shared in private messages, chat apps, or email rather than by typing the URL directly. Because these referrals carry no tracking parameters, the true source of the traffic is invisible, hence "dark." A significant share of real sharing activity, often the most trusted kind, happens in these dark channels. Standard attribution models can undercount how content actually spreads and who is really driving conversions.
Related terms
Turkish definition
Doğrudan mesajlaşma veya e-posta gibi özel kanallar üzerinden yapılan, standart analitik araçlarla kaynağı tespit edilemeyen paylaşım biçimi.
Source: MMA Academy Sözlük