Understand how the pop-up modal triggering behavior affects reported metrics.
The pop-up modal playbook uses behavioral triggers to decide when to show content — which can affect how sessions and users are counted in your optimization results. These metrics are recorded when a variation is assigned, not necessarily when the modal is actually displayed.
How it works
When a visitor lands on a page, the Optimize snippet immediately determines which variation (if any) to assign to that visitor. Once this assignment is made, the session or user is counted — regardless of whether the modal ends up being shown.
This behavior enables you to compare how different triggering criteria perform by counting visitors who were eligible to see the modal, even if they didn’t trigger its display.
Trigger scenarios
Here’s how different triggers might affect whether the visitor actually sees the modal:
- On page load — the modal appears as soon as the page loads. If the visitor leaves before the page finishes loading (e.g., closes the tab or navigates away), the modal won’t appear, but the session/user will still be counted.
- On 50% scroll — the modal only appears if the visitor scrolls halfway down the page. If they leave early or scroll less (e.g., only 25%), the modal won’t appear, but they’re still counted in the metrics.
Exit intent — this trigger relies on detecting exit behavior:
- Mobile: Three seconds of inactivity, or scrolling 90% down and then reversing scroll
- Desktop: Moving the cursor out of the viewport toward the top of the browser
If the visitor leaves via other methods (e.g., keyboard shortcut to close tab), the modal may not display — but the visit is still counted.
Why this matters
This counting method may differ from other tools you use. Some platforms only count sessions or users after a specific element appears or is interacted with. Optimize counts sessions/users at the point of variation assignment to ensure fair comparisons across variations — even if some require more action from the visitor to display.