Would internet speed being slower increase engagement times?

The Short Answer

Theoretically, yes, slower internet speeds (such as those sometimes experienced by international users) can cause a very slight increase in recorded engagement time. However, due to our platform’s optimised performance, this increase is generally negligible usually a matter of seconds and does not statistically skew your engagement data.

How Engagement Time is Tracked

To understand this, it is helpful to look at how Google Analytics measures engagement.

The system essentially sends a signal (a "ping") roughly every 10 seconds to confirm that the user is still there and that the tab is currently in focus. If the tab is open but the user is looking at a different website in another tab, the timer stops.

The "Single Page Application" (SPA) Factor

Our platform is built as a Single Page Application (SPA). This behaves differently than a traditional website:

• Traditional Website: When you click a link, the screen often goes "white" or blank while the browser fetches the new page. During this "white screen" phase, engagement tracking usually stops.

• SPA (Vepple): When a user navigates between areas, the page does not reload entirely. Instead, the frame stays visible while the content inside swaps out.

Because the screen does not go blank, the previous content remains visible and "in focus" while the new content loads. If a user has a slow connection, they are still technically "engaging" with the interface while waiting for the next scene.

Why This Is Not a Concern

While the mechanism described above is true, it rarely impacts data quality for two reasons:

1. Fast Load Times: We optimise our tours heavily. Even for international users, load times are typically under 2 seconds.

2. Insignificant Variance: Even if a connection is poor and a load takes 5 seconds, that adds only a few seconds to the total engagement time. It does not artificially create "minutes" of engagement that didn't happen.