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GCLID (Google Click ID)

GCLID is the Google Click ID, a parameter Google Ads adds to the landing page address so a later conversion can be tied to the click and its campaign.

How it works

With auto-tagging on, the landing page address gets ?gclid= and a value that identifies the click. Google says it is required for Google Ads website conversion tracking. A tag on the landing page keeps it in a first-party cookie, so the purchase tag can later tie the order to the click. In Tag Manager, that is the job of the Conversion Linker.

The same value links Google Ads clicks to sessions in GA4. It also brings in phone and offline orders: the CRM saves the GCLID from the visit and uploads it with the order through offline conversion import. Google treats GCLID-only uploads as legacy and points to enhanced conversions for leads, but still asks for GCLIDs where available. Clicks between the web and an iOS app can carry related parameters, gbraid or wbraid.

The GCLID is lost when a redirect drops it or the site rejects unknown parameters (GCLID and auto-tagging in GA4).

Where you see it

  • Landing page address: gclid= after the question mark.
  • Browser cookies on your domain: _gcl_aw, set by the Conversion Linker or the Google tag.
  • Google Ads: the click view report, one row per GCLID.

Example

Example store, not client data.

A visitor clicks the tableware shop’s ad and lands on /dinner-sets?gclid=abc123. The site copies abc123 into its call-back form. Two days later the shop confirms the order by phone, and the CRM uploads one row: the GCLID, the conversion action, the order time with time zone, and the value, 600, with its currency.

Not to be confused with

  • Auto-tagging — the account setting that adds the parameter. The GCLID is the value it adds.
  • UTM parameters — tags you write by hand to name source, medium and campaign. They don’t identify a click.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “Google Ads campaigns show as (not set) in GA4, so they brought nothing.” Right: GA4 couldn’t map them to a click: accounts not linked, auto-tagging off, or clicks from an unlinked Google Ads account.

Sources