Why it happens
A redirect drops the query string
A redirect drops the query string
A vanity URL, an http to https hop or a www rewrite that forwards to the clean path loses everything after the question mark, gclid included.
Auto-tagging is off
With auto-tagging off, Google adds no gclid at all. GA4 then sees Google clicks only if you tag them with UTMs by hand.
The site strips unknown parameters
Some frameworks, CDNs and single-page app routers rewrite the URL on load and drop parameters they do not recognize before the Google tag reads them.
Privacy features remove it
Safari strips known click IDs in Private Browsing, Mail and Messages. On iOS, app-to-web clicks carry gbraid or wbraid instead of gclid.
How to line them up, step by step
Confirm auto-tagging is on
In Google Ads go to Admin, then Account settings, then Auto-tagging, and check "Tag the URL that people click through from my ad".
Click a live ad and read the URL
Use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool or a real click, land on the page, and check gclid is still in the address bar after every redirect.
Test your final URL with a fake gclid
Load your landing page with ?gclid=test appended. If the parameter disappears, your server or app router is stripping it.
Check the Google tag reads it
Open Tag Assistant on the landing page and confirm the Google tag fires on the first page view, before any redirect or client-side route change.
Steps checked against Google Ads Help: About auto-tagging; Google Ads Help: Set up auto-tagging; Google Analytics Help: Link Google Ads and Analytics.
Sprites diagnoses this
Sprites diagnoses it
Sprites shows how much of your Google traffic lands without its click ID, and which URLs lose it.
What Sprites does
- Breaks GA4 sessions down by channel and source and medium, so Google clicks landing as direct or organic stand out.
- Lists every final URL your Google Ads clicks were sent to and flags the ones off your domain.
- Counts PostHog visits that carry a gclid property against Google Ads clicks for the same days.
What it doesn't do
- It does not change your redirects, your site or the auto-tagging setting.
- It does not upload offline conversions or click IDs to Google Ads.
Questions
What does gclid stand for?
Google Click Identifier. It is a unique string Google Ads appends to the landing page URL for each ad click when auto-tagging is on.
Is gclid personal data?
It identifies a click, not a person by name. It can still be tied to a visitor once it sits in your analytics or CRM, so treat it like any other click identifier.
Do I still need UTMs if auto-tagging is on?
Not for GA4, which reads gclid to get campaign data from Google Ads. Other tools like PostHog and HubSpot read UTMs, so many teams add both.
What are gbraid and wbraid?
Click IDs Google uses for iOS traffic in place of gclid. gbraid covers app-to-web clicks and wbraid covers web-to-app clicks.
Does Safari remove gclid?
In Private Browsing, Mail and Messages, yes. In regular Safari browsing it still passes through as of October 2026.
See where it breaks
Connect your accounts. Sprites reads them side by side and shows you exactly where the numbers split.