Mapp Intelligence always works with raw data first. As part of your account setup, raw data is available for a defined period. After this period, the system switches to sampled data so that you can continue to analyze longer timeframes.
Mapp clearly notifies you in the frontend when sampling is applied.
What happens to my data over time?
For many accounts, the raw data period is set to 14 months. This allows you to run detailed year-over-year comparisons at full granularity.
If you select a timeframe that goes beyond your raw data period, Mapp automatically switches to sampled data. Not every data point is retained, but representative samples are used to approximate the full data.
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After 14 months, calculations switch from raw data to sampled data.
How does sampling work?
With sampling, only part of the data is kept, while results are scaled up to reflect the whole.
Example: with a sampling factor of 3
Every third visitor is included.
Their data is scaled to represent all visitors.
Because sampling is visitor-based, all visits from a visitor are either fully included or excluded. This ensures that visitor journeys stay consistent.
What does this mean for metrics?
Sampling ensures that the total number of visitors remains consistent over time, whether you work with raw or sampled data.
For other metrics – such as visits, page impressions, orders, or segmented visitor counts (e.g., visitors per campaign or per page) – results are scaled from the sample. With large datasets, this produces highly reliable numbers. In smaller datasets or rare cases, however, differences can become noticeable.
In short: the broader the dataset, the more accurate the sampled results. For very detailed or segment-based analyses, raw data provides the highest precision.
Can I change the sampling settings?
Sampling settings are defined when your account is set up. You cannot change them on the fly. Adjustments are only possible through Mapp, for example if you want to extend raw data availability as part of a new agreement.