Common Reasons for No or Low Referring URLs
Sovrn Commerce uses a 302 server-side redirect for reader clicks which allows our partnered networks to capture referring URLs independently from us through the browser header. Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons why a referring URL might not be captured by Sovrn Commerce or a partnered network. Some factors that contribute to missing referring URLs can include:
Platform Restrictions
Some platforms, most notably WordPress, intentionally strip referring URLs off of outbound clicks for security purposes. WordPress automatically adds a tag to every outgoing link from sites built on their platform (rel=”noopener” & rel=”noreferrer”). These security tags are intended to prevent sites with malicious javascript from taking charge of webpages but also can prevent the capturing of a referring URL.
Browser and App Security Settings
Similar to the platform security restrictions above, some browsers and apps prevent the passing of referring URLs by default or allow users to implement privacy settings that prevent the capturing of referring URLs by disabling referer headers which allow Sovrn Commerce and partnered networks to capture the referring URL of the click.
When Chrome 85 was released in August 2020, Google changed its default referrer policy to strict-origin-when-cross-origin. Firefox made this change in March 2021 with version 87. Safari also has a comparable policy. Clicks from these browsers with the privacy/security setting enabled results in the captured referral source of traffic at the domain level rather than the full URL with page-level data. As an example, when a click occurs on mysite.com/interestingstory the referring URL will only be captured as mysite.com.
Firewalls, VPNs, and Proxies
As part of their intended security and privacy functionality, most firewalls, VPNs, and proxies used by readers disable the referer header functionality that allows for the passing of referring URLs from one site to another.
HTTPS - HTTP Redirects
If a website is accessed from an HTTP Secure (HTTPS) connection and a link points to anywhere except another secure location (HTTP), then the referrer field is not captured/sent.
Meta Redirects and Refreshes
When a link URL is sent with a meta redirect or meta refresh to the intended destination URL, the referrer is lost.
In-App, Hosted Browsers
Some mobile applications, like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have their own hosted browser functionality built into their mobile applications. Because these browsers live within a mobile app, they often prohibit the collection of referring URLs, even when you are viewing a content site.
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps don’t have a referring URL to speak of since the click originates within an app and not a website. This doesn’t just affect publishers that operate a first-party mobile app, but publishers whose links are primarily accessible through mobile apps like social media influencers.
Social Media Influencers
Social Media influencers will typically use a link shortening utility to facilitate the sharing of links on social media platforms. This results in the capture of a referring URL that isn’t the actual page where the affiliate link is located. As an additional challenge, most readers access social media content through the platforms’ mobile application which results in the absence of a referring URL.
New Tab, Start Page, Browser, and Search Bar publishers
Because these promotional methods take place within the browsers themselves and not on a specific site, a referring URL does not exist and can’t be captured.
What Sovrn Does About It
Where possible, Sovrn Commerce is working with network partners to provide manual identifiers to merchants and agencies so that they can see traffic sources where a referring URL might be missing. Sovrn Commerce’s product and engineering teams continue to exampine the efficacy of our Javascript and Links to maximize our ability to capture referring URLs and provide them to demand partners. We recognize the importance of this data point in validating the quality and compliance of publisher clicks and actions. We are also looking at how the depreciation of third-party cookies and alternative forms of tracking might impact the capture of referring URLs.
Please let us know if you have any other questions about the causes and initiatives described above, and we will do our best to help.