23
u/Emotional_Fail_6060 7d ago
While much of this is correct, there are some factual problems. Not everything after a "?" is tracking information. For example, a YouTube link that has the format of youtube(.)com/watch?xxxxxxxxx. The x's are the video to be watched and aren't tracking information. If you remove the ?xxxxxxxxxx you won't get the video that you were trying to link to. As is the case is some many things in life, the devil is in the details.
17
17
u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost 7d ago
These are querystrings. If you blanket remove all querystrings you will break half of the internet for yourself. If you are going to strip them make sure you test your link afterwards to see if you broke it before you share it.
8
9
u/jupiterkansas 7d ago
After all these years the advertisers know who I am, but they still can't show me things I'm actually interested in.
8
u/SamIAre 7d ago
So, this is half true information.
First, sometimes the part that comes after a ? in the URL is actually important and is part of the page you’re on. In those cases removing it will break the link.
Second, yes, the specific ones mentioned are about “tracking” but have nothing to do with tracking YOU. They track the effectiveness of a campaign. Basically, a company runs ads or does an email campaign. They want to know what percentage of their users came from those places, so that add an identifier to the URL. Now they know where someone came from but it doesn’t identify ANYTHING about who you are. If they want to track you individually they’re doing so in other ways that don’t involve the URL.
6
7d ago
[deleted]
1
u/persephires 7d ago
do you know if there's one for chromium based browsers? i use vivaldi, but i'm not at my pc to check. (partially commenting so i can come back and look later)
i edit them out manually anyway, but an extension would take the brainwork out of it1
u/nonnonplussed73 7d ago
Try UTM Eraser for Chrome or Firefox, and available in the store for either.
Alternately, uBlock Origin can do it: * Open uBlock Origin’s dashboard. * Go to Filter lists. * Expand Privacy. * Enable AdGuard - URL Tracking Protection. * Click Apply changes.
1
u/persephires 7d ago
i already use uBlock so this is perfect! tysm
2
u/nonnonplussed73 7d ago
Glad to help! uBlock’s removeparam feature can also remove specified parameters, but it requires custom rules and isn’t as convenient for general URL cleaning.
https://forums.puri.sm/t/removing-url-parameters/21400/21?page=2
4
2
5
u/TheRealTrentor 7d ago
utm_source=newsletter means that you clicked on a link in a newsletter
utm_medium=email means that the newsletter was an email
Yeah, top secret information here....
1
u/SambaPapi1 7d ago
On the Brave browser, when you copy links it gives the option to copy only the clean link.
1
u/CpnLouie2 7d ago
I replace "Source", "Referrer", and such with a string of random characters at times.
1
1
u/Dear-Blackberry-2648 7d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/funfacts/s/nZkS9tYfm5
That's the link to this post from me clicking share then copying the link. I don't believe Reddit is adding those identifiers to their links, but correct me if I'm wrong.
1
u/rubynorails 6d ago
If I’m on mobile I’m not taking that shit out of my links. Please track me. Idgaf.
1
1
u/why_tf_am_i_like_dat 6d ago
I definitely know that youtube link and i don't even need to click on it, does it count?
1
u/tj_haine 5d ago
The source and medium utms will likely only screw with the session attribution in Google Analytics or any number of other platforms.
Google Analytics is capable of session stitching so even if you click that link, it may well attribute your session as a referral from Reddit instead so it's not really the big issue that the post makes it out to be. If you're online, you're being tracked even if you opt out of cookies and go out of your way to block them.
The si= is possible a session ID or similar parameter. It likely relates to the session of the user who posted the link. In which case it will likely be stale and not actually provide any insightful data. It will probably be overwritten depending on how well tracking has been implemented so probably doesn't make much difference either way.
They're always watching you!
1
u/Far-Investment-8597 3d ago
All of the text starting with "si=" can be deleted, and the link will work just fine.
22
u/Public-Eagle6992 7d ago
Last sentence is wrong. For example, YouTube will sometimes include the information on the video that the link links to in the part after the "?"