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A link you're sharing contains an ad click ID

gclid, fbclid and other click IDs are added to each ad click. Copied into a link you share, they credit every visitor to one old click. How to remove them.

SymptomA link in a post, email or bio contains gclid, fbclid, ttclid, msclkid or a similar ID.
Likely causeThe link was copied from the browser after clicking an ad, so the platform's click ID came with it.
FixDelete the click ID and everything after it up to the next &, then share the clean link.

Short answer: Ad platforms add a click ID, such as gclid or fbclid, to the landing page link each time someone clicks an ad. If you copy that address and share it, everyone who uses your link carries the same old click ID. General practice is to remove click IDs before you reuse or share a link.

What is a click ID?

Click ID: a unique code an ad platform adds to the landing page link when someone clicks an ad, so that later visits and conversions can be matched back to that click.

The common ones:

  • gclid: Google Ads. Google calls it the Google Click Identifier, added by auto-tagging.
  • gbraid and wbraid: Google Ads for iOS web-to-app and app-to-web measurement.
  • fbclid: Meta, for clicks on Facebook and Instagram ads.
  • msclkid: Microsoft Advertising, which says auto-tagging is on by default.
  • ttclid, li_fat_id, twclid and ScCid: reported as TikTok, LinkedIn, X and Snapchat click IDs. Their help pages describe them being added to ad clicks in a similar way.

Why shouldn't a click ID be in a shared link?

Because a click ID describes one click, and a shared link is used by many people. No platform we found states this as a written rule, so treat it as general practice rather than policy.

The reasoning comes from what the platforms do say:

  • Google and Meta both generate the value per click.
  • Meta says the click ID is case sensitive and should not be modified. Google says the same for GBRAID.
  • In Google Analytics, Google says auto-tagging takes priority over manual UTM tags. A stale gclid can therefore override the source, medium and campaign you set on purpose.

So a link with someone else's click ID in it can file your newsletter or influencer traffic under an old Google Ads click, and the ad platform may see many visits tied to a click that happened once.

Example

A link copied from the browser after clicking an ad, then pasted into a newsletter:

https://example.com/sale?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oct&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8x

The clean link to share:

https://example.com/sale?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oct

How to fix it

  1. Paste the link into the link checker. It names any click ID it finds and the platform it belongs to.
  2. Delete the click ID and its value. If it's in the middle, delete from the & before it to the next &.
  3. Add your own UTM tags for the place you're sharing it, using the UTM builder.
  4. Don't remove click IDs from your ad platforms' landing pages. They are added at click time, and Google says redirects should pass the gclid through to the final page.
  5. Build shared links from your site's address, not from the browser bar after clicking an ad.
Related

Related problems

Links The link has more than one question markOnly the first ? starts the tracking part of a link, so a second ? turns the next tag into part of a value and it's lost.Links Campaign link uses http instead of httpsAn http link usually has to redirect to https, and each redirect is one more chance for tracking tags to be dropped.Links The campaign link has spaces in itA space isn't allowed in a web address, so links with spaces get cut short, encoded differently or split in two.Links UTM tags come after the # in the linkAnything after # stays in the browser and is never sent to the website's server, so tags placed there are easy to lose.

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FAQ

Common questions

Is it bad to have gclid and UTM tags in the same link?

On live Google Ads clicks it's normal for auto-tagging to add `gclid`. Google says auto-tagging then takes priority over your manual source, medium and campaign. In a link you share by hand, remove the `gclid`.

Will removing a click ID break my ad tracking?

No. The ad platform adds a fresh click ID to every new ad click. Removing one from a link you copy only stops an old click being reused.

What does fbclid mean in a link?

It's Meta's click ID, added when someone clicks an ad on Facebook or Instagram. Meta says not to modify the value on live clicks, but it has no place in a link you share yourself.

Can click IDs be removed automatically?

Some sites strip unknown parameters, and Google notes that a small share of websites reject them with an error page. For links you share, the simplest option is to remove them yourself before posting. See [missing UTM parameters](/problems/missing-utm-parameters/) for what to add instead.

What are UTM parameters?

UTM parameters are tags added to the end of a link, such as utm_source and utm_campaign, that tell analytics tools where a visit came from. They let you see which campaign, channel and ad brought each visitor.

Which UTM parameters are required?

Use utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign on every campaign link. utm_term and utm_content are optional and help you compare keywords or ad variants.