External data can add interesting information. It only has a time reference.
Time categories
By using time categories, numeric values can be imported.
The data is allocated to an hour of a day.
Examples:
Number of available products per day
Qty online orders (for quality control)
Qty offline orders
Individual target values (for calculating target achievement)
Time (YYYY-MM-DD HH) | Time category "Qty online orders" | Time category "Target orders" |
|---|---|---|
2026-12-10 00 | 5,664 | 5,500 |
2026-12-11 00 | 5,581 | 5,000 |
2026-12-12 00 | 5,405 | 5,000 |
Good to know
Time categories are available as metrics.
Setup & best practices
Independent parameters
Independent parameters can be used to log additional information per tracking request. They are only linked by time — not to a page, click, or visit — so tracking one does not create a visit.
Examples:
Adserver tracking
IoT tracking
Newsletter openings in an email client
The exact syntax depends on your integration method. For details, see Tracking Integration.
Analysis
Available in Visitors > Independent Parameters (for the data type Text).