URL Parameters and Redirects

1–2. Parameters, query strings and key-value pairs

A URL parameter is data after the “?”, written as key=value and joined by “&”, e.g. https://example.com/offer?campaign_id=123 (fictional example). Meanings depend on the platform and implementation.

3. Click, campaign, source and attribution parameters

Click IDs identify one click, campaign IDs a campaign, source parameters the traffic origin. Their names are defined by each platform.

4. Encoding and nested URLs

Reserved characters inside a value must be percent-encoded (:→%3A, /→%2F, ?→%3F, &→%26). Double encoding or no encoding are frequent bugs.

5. Redirects

301 means permanently moved; 302 means temporarily moved; application-level redirects (JavaScript or meta refresh) happen after the page loads and are harder to inspect. Prefer server-side HTTP redirects with a clear purpose.

6. Tracking templates vs. final URLs

The final URL is the landing page; the tracking template wraps it.

7–8. Inspecting chains and testing without paid traffic

Run curl -I -L or use browser developer tools’ Network tab and note each hop’s status code and Location header. Test with staging URLs or test campaigns.

Parsing a URL does not verify safety, policy compliance or certification, and does not mean Google approves it.

9. Common formatting mistakes

• Two “?” in one URL.
• Missing “&” between parameters.
• Unencoded nested URL.
• Spaces or unsupported characters.
• Dropping HTTPS.

10. FAQ