Fix Multiple Click IDs Issue

You've spotted the problem: your URLs have multiple click IDs like ?gclid=abc&fbclid=def&msclkid=ghi. This creates chaos in GA4—duplicate sessions, fractured attribution, and inflated traffic counts that make your analytics worthless.

The impact: If 1,000 users arrive via these polluted URLs, GA4 might record 2,000-3,000 sessions. Your bounce rate drops artificially, your conversion attribution breaks, and you can't tell which platform actually drove the traffic.

Why This Happens

Multiple click IDs accumulate when:

1. URL sharing across platforms: Someone clicks your Google Ad (gclid added), then shares that URL on Facebook (Facebook adds fbclid)
2. Retargeting chains: User sees your ad on multiple platforms in sequence, each adding its own tracking parameter
3. Social platform crawlers: When Facebook/LinkedIn preview a link, they may add their parameters before the actual user clicks
4. Email forwards: Marketing emails get forwarded with original tracking intact, then recipient clicks through a different platform

The Fix

You have two implementation options: client-side (quick but less reliable) or server-side (recommended for production).

Client-Side Solution (JavaScript)

This runs in the browser after page load. GA4 still receives the multiple IDs, but you can clean the URL to prevent further sharing:

// Strip all click IDs except the first one
const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
const clickIds = ['gclid', 'fbclid', 'msclkid', 'ttclid', 'twclid',
                  'li_fat_id', 'epik', 'wbraid', 'gbraid'];
 
// Find the first click ID and remove all others
let foundFirst = false;
let firstClickId = null;
 
clickIds.forEach(id => {
  if (params.has(id)) {
    if (!foundFirst) {
      foundFirst = true;
      firstClickId = id;
    } else {
      // Remove subsequent click IDs
      params.delete(id);
    }
  }
});
 
// Update URL in browser without page reload
const newUrl = `${window.location.pathname}?${params.toString()}`;
history.replaceState({}, '', newUrl);

Pros: Easy to implement, works immediately Cons: GA4 already recorded multiple IDs before cleanup runs

Server-Side Solution (Recommended)

Implement URL parameter cleanup at your CDN, load balancer, or web server before the request reaches your site. This prevents GA4 from ever seeing the duplicate IDs.

Cloudflare Workers Example:

addEventListener('fetch', event => {
  event.respondWith(handleRequest(event.request));
});
 
async function handleRequest(request) {
  const url = new URL(request.url);
  const clickIds = ['gclid', 'fbclid', 'msclkid', 'ttclid', 'twclid',
                    'li_fat_id', 'epik', 'wbraid', 'gbraid'];
 
  // Keep only the first click ID found
  let foundFirst = false;
  clickIds.forEach(id => {
    if (url.searchParams.has(id)) {
      if (foundFirst) {
        url.searchParams.delete(id);
      } else {
        foundFirst = true;
      }
    }
  });
 
  // Fetch with cleaned URL
  return fetch(url.toString(), request);
}

NGINX Example:

# In your location block
if ($args ~* "(gclid=[^&]+).*&(fbclid|msclkid|ttclid)=") {
  # Strip subsequent click IDs
  rewrite ^(.*)$ $1?$1 redirect;
}

Pros: Prevents the issue before analytics run, cleaner data Cons: Requires server/CDN access and configuration

Which Click ID to Keep?

Best practice: Keep the FIRST click ID in the URL string. This represents the true traffic source—the platform where the user originally clicked.

Example:

• URL: site.com?fbclid=abc&gclid=def
• Keep: fbclid (first in URL)
• Remove: gclid (added later)

This preserves the original attribution while eliminating conflicts.

Testing Your Fix

1. Create a test URL with multiple click IDs:

   yoursite.com/test?gclid=test123&fbclid=test456
   

2. Visit the URL in incognito mode

3. Check the browser address bar:

   • Client-side: URL should update after page load
   • Server-side: URL should be clean immediately

4. Verify in GA4 Real-Time reports:

   • Should show only ONE session
   • Source should match the preserved click ID

Preventing Future Issues

After implementing the fix:

1. Monitor UTMGuard audits: Check for new instances of multiple click IDs
2. Add social share cleaners: Implement URL cleaning on share buttons (see prevention guide)
3. Use link shorteners strategically: Services like Bitly create clean redirect URLs without parameter pollution
4. Educate your team: Train marketing teams not to share URLs with tracking parameters

FAQ

Q: Will this affect my cross-platform attribution?

No. You're only removing DUPLICATE click IDs from the same URL. Each platform still tracks its own traffic correctly when users click directly from that platform.

Q: What if I want to track the full customer journey?

Use GA4's built-in multi-touch attribution or UTM parameters with utm_id for campaign tracking. Don't rely on multiple platform click IDs in a single URL.

Q: Does this work with utm_source and manual UTM parameters?

Yes, but those are separate issues. This fix only addresses platform-generated click IDs. For UTM + click ID conflicts, see our auto-tagging vs manual UTM guide.

Related: Platform Click ID Conflicts Documentation