We are updating the referrer of ad clicks to improve security and system reliability for users searching on Google. Starting within October, the referrer for many ad clicks will only contain the Google domain from which the click occurred (domains like https://www.google.com or https://www.google.ca). This means that we will no longer be communicating specific paths such as “google.com/aclk” or “googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk.”
While the referrer will no longer differentiate Google’s organic search clicks from ad clicks, and in some cases may be absent entirely, there are still multiple strategies to track the origin of your clicks. Recommended strategies include:
By default, browsers do not pass a referrer from HTTPS sites to HTTP sites. To minimize advertiser disruption, we implemented a custom ads solution back when the Google search page migration to HTTPS took place. Now, many modern web browsers provide better control over referrer behavior via the meta referrer tag. This development is an improvement over our previously-implemented custom ads solution both in terms of reliability and latency.
While the referrer will no longer differentiate Google’s organic search clicks from ad clicks, and in some cases may be absent entirely, there are still multiple strategies to track the origin of your clicks. Recommended strategies include:
- Using auto-tagging (gclid)
- Using custom campaign parameters (utm)
- Using ValueTrack parameters
By default, browsers do not pass a referrer from HTTPS sites to HTTP sites. To minimize advertiser disruption, we implemented a custom ads solution back when the Google search page migration to HTTPS took place. Now, many modern web browsers provide better control over referrer behavior via the meta referrer tag. This development is an improvement over our previously-implemented custom ads solution both in terms of reliability and latency.