Skip to main content
Avg. Scroll Ups is the average number of upward scroll movements the Upstack Pixel recorded per session. It’s a rough measure of backtracking: re-reading, comparing, or hunting for something already passed.

​
Formula

Avg. Scroll Ups = SUM ( scroll-ups per session ) ÷ Number of sessions
Session metrics are calculated from Upstack’s session records. They aren’t offered in the dashboard metric picker.

​
What counts as a scroll-up

While a visitor scrolls, the Upstack Pixel samples the vertical scroll position at most once per animation frame. Each sample is compared with the previous one. If the page is now higher than it was, the page’s scroll-up count goes up by one. That makes a scroll-up a sample, not a gesture:
  • One slow flick upward that lasts half a second can add many scroll-ups, one per sampled frame where the position moved up.
  • An instant jump back to the top, with no frames in between, adds one.
  • Scrolling down never adds anything.
Each page’s count is sent when the visitor leaves the page, and the session adds them up. Sessions with no scroll-ups still count in the denominator.

​
Worked example

Three sessions on a supplement store: Avg. Scroll Ups = (0 + 46 + 1) ÷ 3 = 15.67. Session B didn’t backtrack 46 times. Two upward swipes were each sampled across many frames. The number is useful for comparing pages and periods, not for counting how often a person changed their mind.

​
How to interpret it

  • Compare relative changes. Because the unit is a sample, only compare against the same pages, devices, and periods. Different devices and scrolling styles can produce different sample counts for similar behavior.
  • High on product pages can mean visitors move between details, such as reviews and price. Moving key details closer together can lower it.
  • A sudden jump after a layout change points at the change. Look for content that now pushes the thing people want further away.
  • Frustration flags use it. The session record marks excessive scroll-ups when a session reaches 5 or more. Given the frame sampling, one or two swipes may be enough to reach it.

​
FAQ

Each upward movement is counted once per sampled frame, so one swipe can count many times. Compare it across pages and periods rather than reading it as a count of actions.
No. Scroll-ups are one of the inputs to the page score, with a small weight, and more scroll-ups add to it up to a cap of 10 per page.
Yes. The pixel reads the page scroll position, which changes the same way on touch scrolling.
See all Session metrics →