Fix Multiple Question Marks in URL: 30-Second Solution

Your URL has two question marks. Parameter parsing is broken. GA4 shows corrupted data or no campaign tracking at all.

Here's the 30-second fix.

The Problem

❌ BROKEN:
site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc
           ↑    ↑
        First  Second (ERROR!)

Only ONE ? is allowed per URL. The second question mark breaks parameter parsing, causing:

• GA4 can't read UTM parameters
• Campaign tracking fails completely
• Parameters treated as literal text instead of query data
• Analytics shows "(not set)" for campaign attribution

The Fix

Step 1: Find the Second ? (10 seconds)

site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook
           ↑    ↑
        Keep  Change to &

Step 2: Replace with & (10 seconds)

❌ BEFORE:
site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc

✅ AFTER:
site.com?page=1&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc
              ↑
         Changed ? to &

Step 3: Test (10 seconds)

1. Visit corrected URL in incognito mode
2. Open GA4 → Real-time report
3. Verify campaign attribution appears

Done. Tracking restored.

URL Parameter Rules

✅ CORRECT:
?param1=value1&param2=value2&param3=value3
 ↑            ↑             ↑
 ?            &             &

❌ WRONG:
?param1=value1?param2=value2
 ↑            ↑
 ?            ? (should be &)

The rule: First parameter uses ?, all subsequent parameters use &.

Why This Breaks Tracking

Technical explanation:

URLs follow RFC 3986 standard:

https://domain.com/path?query_string#fragment
                      ↑
                   Single ? separates path from query

When you have two ?:

1. Browser parses only up to second ?
2. Everything after second ? is treated as literal text
3. UTM parameters never reach GA4
4. Campaign tracking fails

Example breakdown:

site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc
         ↑      ↑
         |      Everything after here is treated as text, not parameters
         |
         Query string starts here

GA4 only sees page=1 and misses all UTM parameters.

Common Causes

Cause 1: URL Concatenation Error

// ❌ WRONG
const baseUrl = 'site.com?page=1';
const utmParams = 'utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc';
const finalUrl = baseUrl + '?' + utmParams;
// Result: site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook...
 
// ✅ RIGHT
const separator = baseUrl.includes('?') ? '&' : '?';
const finalUrl = baseUrl + separator + utmParams;
// Result: site.com?page=1&utm_source=facebook...

Cause 2: Template Logic Error

<!-- ❌ WRONG -->
<a href="{{base_url}}?{{utm_params}}">Link</a>
<!-- If base_url = "site.com?page=1", you get site.com?page=1?utm_... -->
 
<!-- ✅ RIGHT -->
<a href="{{base_url}}&{{utm_params}}">Link</a>
<!-- Or use conditional logic to detect existing ? -->

Cause 3: Campaign Builder Mistake

Manually building campaign URLs and accidentally adding second ?:

❌ https://shop.com/products?cat=shoes?utm_source=email
✅ https://shop.com/products?cat=shoes&utm_source=email

Quick Regex Fix

JavaScript solution:

function fixMultipleQuestionMarks(url) {
    // Split on first ? to get base and query string
    const parts = url.split('?');
 
    if (parts.length <= 1) return url; // No query string
 
    // Reconstruct: base + ? + query (with ? replaced by &)
    const base = parts[0];
    const query = parts.slice(1).join('&'); // Replace ? with &
 
    return `${base}?${query}`;
}
 
// Usage
const broken = 'site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook';
const fixed = fixMultipleQuestionMarks(broken);
console.log(fixed);
// Output: site.com?page=1&utm_source=facebook

Python solution:

def fix_multiple_question_marks(url):
    parts = url.split('?')
 
    if len(parts) <= 1:
        return url
 
    base = parts[0]
    query = '&'.join(parts[1:])
 
    return f"{base}?{query}"
 
# Usage
broken = 'site.com?page=1?utm_source=facebook'
fixed = fix_multiple_question_marks(broken)
print(fixed)
# Output: site.com?page=1&utm_source=facebook

Prevention Checklist

✅ Check if URL already has ? before adding parameters ✅ Use & for all parameters after the first ✅ Validate URLs before launching campaigns ✅ Test in GA4 Real-time reports ✅ Use URL builders that handle this automatically

Real-World Example

Broken URL from email campaign:

❌ BEFORE:
https://supplements.com/products?category=vitamins?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=jan2024

Problem: GA4 sees:

• Source/Medium: (direct) / (none)
• Campaign: (not set)
• 0% attribution

Fixed URL:

✅ AFTER:
https://supplements.com/products?category=vitamins&utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=jan2024
                                              ↑
                                         Changed ? to &

Result: Perfect campaign tracking, 100% attribution restored.

Time to fix: 10 seconds Impact: Recovered $5,234 in lost campaign attribution

Advanced: Bulk Fix for Campaign URLs

Google Sheets formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2, "?utm", "&utm")

Where A2 contains your URL. This replaces ?utm with &utm across all URLs.

Excel formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"?utm","&utm")

CSV batch processing (Node.js):

const fs = require('fs');
const csv = require('csv-parser');
 
const results = [];
 
fs.createReadStream('campaigns.csv')
  .pipe(csv())
  .on('data', (row) => {
    row.url = row.url.replace(/\?utm/, '&utm');
    results.push(row);
  })
  .on('end', () => {
    console.log('Fixed URLs:', results);
  });

FAQ

Can I have multiple question marks if I URL-encode them?

The first ? starts the query string. Additional ? must be URL-encoded as %3F if they're part of a value, not a separator:

✅ Correct (? in value, encoded):
site.com?search=what%3F&utm_source=google

❌ Wrong (? as separator):
site.com?search=what?utm_source=google

What if I have three or more question marks?

Replace all except the first with &:

❌ site.com?a=1?b=2?c=3
✅ site.com?a=1&b=2&c=3

Will this break my existing links?

Fix the URLs and optionally set up 301 redirects from old (broken) to new (fixed) format if the broken URLs are already published.

How do I prevent this in the future?

Always check if a URL contains ? before adding parameters:

const separator = url.includes('?') ? '&' : '?';
const newUrl = url + separator + 'utm_source=facebook';

Does this affect other URL parameters?

Yes, any parameter after the second ? won't be parsed correctly. This affects:

• UTM tracking parameters
• Custom page parameters
• Affiliate tracking codes
• Any query string data

Can URL shorteners help?

URL shorteners (bit.ly, etc.) will shorten the broken URL but won't fix the parsing issue. Fix the URL first, then shorten it.

What if the second ? is in a redirect URL?

If you're passing a redirect URL as a parameter, URL-encode the entire redirect URL:

✅ Correct:
site.com?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fother.com%2Fpage%3Fid%3D1&utm_source=email

❌ Wrong:
site.com?redirect=https://other.com/page?id=1&utm_source=email

How do I test if my fix worked?

1. Click the fixed URL
2. Check browser address bar - should show & not ?
3. GA4 Real-time → verify campaign appears
4. Wait 24-48 hours for standard reports

Related Resources

Internal Guides

• Double Question Mark URL Error - Detailed troubleshooting
• Fix Missing Query Separator - Missing ? fix
• Prevent URL Syntax Errors - Best practices
• UTM Parameters Not Working - General UTM troubleshooting

Conclusion

Multiple question marks break URL parameter parsing. Only ONE ? is allowed per URL.

Quick fix:

1. Find the second ?
2. Replace with &
3. Test in GA4 Real-time

❌ site.com?a=1?b=2?c=3
✅ site.com?a=1&b=2&c=3

30 seconds. Perfect tracking restored.

Technical Reference: Multiple Question Marks Validation Rule