Google created a page on Search Central which lists the HTTP Referer values that are passed on when a user clicks to get to another website using Google Search. The page is listed as new in Google’s update log, added to document “how site owners can identify and track traffic from Google Search” within their analytics.
The same HTTP Referer values are also passed on by Discover and Google Images, the page says. That means a google.com referrer shows that Google sent someone, without showing whether they came from Search, Discover or Images.
What The Page Lists
Google Search is using the origin referrer policy, so all that appears in the header is the scheme and host of the referring page. In other words, no information about the path of the page, the query parameters and the actual search query is sent; instead, Google’s page points to Search Console’s Performance report for queries.
Google Search on the web sends either https://www.google.com/ or one of a number of local Google domains, such as https://www.google.co.uk/. Similarly, the Google app on iOS sends this. The Google app on Android sends either of these options or android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/https/www.google.com if the app opens the link in a browser tab.
According to the webpage, Discover traffic carries the values of whichever surface it was viewed on, “such as the Google app or Google Search on the web,” and other services available through Google from the same origins, for instance Google Images, send them too.
In February 2021, Google began moving Discover traffic for Chrome to be sent via the google.com origin referrer instead of a googleapis.com referrer so that it would match Discover within the Google app.
Why Counts Differ From Search Console
Visits from Google Search can come to your website without a referrer. The page explains how browsers or operating systems might remove that header for privacy reasons when someone is using private mode, opening in a new tab (depending on the browser), or switching from a mobile search widget to an external browser.
When traffic carrying Google’s referrer values shows up in your analytics software, it is generally referred to as organic traffic coming from Google Search, according to the page. However, when you find it classified as Referral or Direct traffic, it could mean that your custom channels, referral exclusions, or filters have reclassified the traffic.
You should count only the requests to your landing pages and not include requests for images, CSS and JavaScript files in your counts of Google Search referrals; these requests carry the URL of your landing page as their referrer.
When you use client-side redirects on your site, your redirects may be replacing the referrer with your site’s URL. When you do a redirect that drops the query string, it will take away parameters like gclid, which the page describes as commonly used in ad tagging. A redirect with a stricter Referrer-Policy header could remove the referrer altogether.
Google Search Console shows a click every time someone has selected a link, but analytics tools will show a visit only after the page has loaded and executed the tracking script, which ad blockers, consent choices and privacy settings can block. Google Search Console only tracks organic clicks, whereas analytics totals may or may not include Google Ads traffic depending on how the website was set up.
Why This Matters
You can separate Discover clicks from Search clicks by using the Discover report in Google’s Search Console and not referrer data.
The last update for this page was made on Nov. 12; it does not cover AI Mode or AI Overviews. The standard Performance report in Search Console counts clicks in both categories. As I reported on Nov. 2, it does not have a search appearance type that separates those clicks.
If your paid landing pages are being redirected, make sure that the redirects are passing along the query string, because losing a gclid is another gap the page names.
Looking Ahead
Teams that keep their own list of Google referrer values now have Google’s version to compare against. As of Nov. 13, the page doesn’t mention the google.com/goto redirect links in results, which DataForSEO dates to late August and which I covered last week. Google’s documentation updates log is where a revision to the page would show up.
Featured Image: Accogliente Design/Shutterstock. Source: Google.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-traffic-analytics-logs/597382/
