"Dark social" refers to traffic that is not tracked by analytics applications. This category includes, for example, content shared via emails or messaging apps. The term was coined in 2012 by Alexis C. Madrigal, a journalist at The Atlantic magazine. In an article, Madrigal lamented that over 56 percent of all page views on theatlantic.com came from unmeasurable sources. According to the study "The Dark Side of Mobile Sharing" by RadiumOne, this "dark traffic" now accounts for 82 percent of all mobile shares. For analysts, advertisers, and companies, "dark social" is a major problem because this traffic is typically particularly valuable, as it often involves personal recommendations.


