Instances
The ‘Instances’ metric shows the number of times a dimension was explicitly defined in an image request. Some dimensions, such as eVars, persist dimension items past the hit they are set on. This metric is useful when you want to see the number of times a dimension item was set without the hits where that value persisted.
How this metric is calculated
Out of all hits in a report suite, only include hits that explicitly set a dimension item in the image request. Some dimensions, such as eVars, persist beyond the hit they are set on. Metrics like Page views and Occurrences count both initial and persisted values. This metric does not count persisted values.
For example, a visitor arrives on your site and uses internal search. You track internal search in eVar1. After using internal search once, they visit five more pages before leaving.
If viewing a report in Workspace, you would see one eVar1 instance and six occurrences. One instance counts on the search results page, whereas the occurrences metric counts the initial value and subsequent persisted values.
Compare to similar metrics
- Instances vs. Occurrences: Instances do not include hits where a dimension item persists. Occurrences count hits where a dimension item was set or persisted.
- Instances vs. Page views: Instances include all hit types, including page view tracking calls (
t()), link tracking calls (tl()), and data from summary Data sources. The page views metric only includes page view tracking calls, excluding link tracking calls and summary data sources.