Since October 2018, a new parameter known as fbclid has been appearing in many outgoing links on Facebook. While Facebook hasn’t officially commented on its purpose, the name itself offers clues about its functionality.
Understanding the FBCLID Parameter
The fbclid parameter found in some URLs behaves similarly to Google’s GCLID (Google Click Identifier). According to Google, GCLID is a tracking mechanism that facilitates data sharing between Google Ads and Google Analytics.
It appears that fbclid serves a similar role by tracking user behavior and interactions for advertisers on Facebook. Interestingly, the parameter only shows up if you’re logged into Facebook, suggesting it may be tied to user-specific data.
There are also speculations that fbclid helps bypass Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention 2.0, which limits cross-site tracking.
The Google Ads Parallel
In Google Ads, the GCLID parameter is automatically added to URLs when auto-tagging is enabled. However, Google Analytics typically filters out this parameter from reports. On Facebook, the fbclid parameter works in a similar fashion, attaching to URLs in ads and standard posts.
Why Is Facebook Using FBCLID?
While there’s no official explanation, it’s likely that fbclid enables better tracking for Facebook advertising campaigns. It might also integrate with Facebook Pixel to improve data collection and performance analysis in Facebook Analytics.
If you check your Facebook Analytics, you may already see this parameter contributing to tracking and insights.
How to Remove FBCLID from Your URLs
If you prefer not to track fbclid, there’s a straightforward way to exclude it from your analytics reports. Here’s how:
- Log in to your Google Analytics account.
- Navigate to “Behavior” > “Site Content” > “All Pages” and search for “fbclid.”
- If your search shows page views with this parameter, it’s being tracked in your reports.
- To stop this, go to the “Admin” section, then select “View Settings” in the appropriate data view.
- In the “Exclude URL Query Parameters” field, enter “fbclid” and save your changes.
This will prevent fbclid from appearing in future reports, but it won’t affect previously tracked data.
Alternative Methods to Remove FBCLID
There are additional methods for hiding fbclid, such as applying filters:
- Filter 1: Remove FBCLID Parameters
- Go to Admin > All Filters > Add Filter.
- Name: Hide FBCLID Parameters.
- Choose Custom > Search and Replace.
- In the Filter Field, select Request URI.
- For Search String, enter (fbclid=[^&]*&?).
- Leave the Replace String blank and save the filter.
- Filter 2: Hide Trailing “?” or “&”
- Follow the same steps as above but enter ([?&]$) in the Search String field to remove any leftover characters.
In addition to fbclid and gclid, other platforms like zanox and bing ads (msclkid) use similar parameters. You can track and remove these by reviewing the “All Pages” report in google analytics.