CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cross-domaingoogle-analytics-4url-parametersuser-trackingpardot
Anna L
Anna L

Reputation: 49

Why am I seeing weird strings of letters & numbers in URLs when using cross-domain tracking in GA4?

We have a website and a marketing automation platform with a tracking domain something like:

https://mywebsite.com
https://go.mywebsite.com

Cross domain tracking is set up in GA4. The same Google Tag is manually installed on the landing pages in the marketing automation platform as well as on our website.

I was doing research yesterday and understand that the ?_gl=1* part refers to cross-domain tracking. I also recognize the GA tag! (ga_6NL66ZXLF5)

My Question is: Does anyone know what the weird gobbledygook is, with the strings of letters and numbers?
Is this a sign that something has not been done correctly?

https://mywebsite.com/page-location/?_gl=1*10b5lc8*_ga*MTkzNzM1MDA5MC4xNjg2NzM5MDU1*_ga_6NL66ZXLF5*MTcwNTY2MTE1MS44MS4xLjE3MDU2NjMwMjYuNDQuMC4w

What I tried: Using GTM debugging mode and GA4 DebugView to examine the events more closely to see if I could see anything like these strings. I can't see anything resembling this. It is not referencing the session number or session ID. Everything looked ok.

I checked for similar questions, but none answer the question of what these weird strings are, and if it's normal to see that.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 859

Answers (1)

ali izadi
ali izadi

Reputation: 549

No, these GA parameters are Google Analytics signs that indicate cross-domain tracking has been set up correctly between the domains. These parameters maintain your session and other tracking factors, such as your referrer, which allows analytics to collect and combine all your data without creating a new session. So, there's no need to worry - everything is working as intended.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions