Operating System Type "Chrome OS" in desktop report

[Ronny3]

Since Mai 2023 a new value has appeared in our "Operating System Type" reports for desktop visits that outperforms the combined desktop visits from Windows and Apple (see screenshot). The OS type has the value of "Chrome OS", and a breakdown reveals it to be the version "Chrome OS 88.0.4324". Simultanously, the dimension "Mobile Device Type" reports an increase of "Other", meaning desktop devices.

I guess there is a connection to the changes regarding client-hints and device look-up. We have activated "High entropy user-agent client hints" in the Analytics extension.

Even if there were a Chrome OS for Desktops it could not possibly rise to the top as quickly as this. So thanks in advance for any insights by the community.

[MandyGeorge · Accepted solution]

 Chrome does have an OS for desktops, so it is possible that this traffic could be real. But to see a spike like that initially makes me think it's bots. Have you checked the behavior of those visits? Are there any orders, are they mostly single page visits, do they hit mostly products (if you have a retail website)?

I would check the behavior of the visits and see if it lines up with what you would expect from bots. If it does, you can exclude the visits using a segment and/or a VRS.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

I also know there was recent issue with Android User Agent identification.. a lot of devices were coming back with Android 10 (when they shouldn't have)... I will check my data a little later and see if I see a random spike... it might be the result of trying to fix Android 10 issue and causing another mis-identification.....