what tracking looks like in a url
if you want to see where the links below go, use /only/ this link
lets say you are watching youtube and the url in the address bar of your browser says:
https://www.notyoutube.com/watch?v=KZ-BbusMdkU
neat song you think, let me send this to my friend; you click the share button and get:
https://notyou.be/KZ-BbusMdkU?si=r19fX7jzypNZPP <-- don’t use this link
if we stretch that back out so that the first part is the same as before:
https://www.notyoutube.com/watch?v=KZ-BbusMdkU?si=r19fX7jzypNZPP <-- don’t use this link
now if we line that up with the original link:
https://www.notyoutube.com/watch?v=KZ-BbusMdkU
https://www.notyoutube.com/watch?v=KZ-BbusMdkU?si=r19fX7jzypNZPP <-- don’t use this link
you will notice that using the share button simply tacks on a tracking code: ?si=r19fX7jzypNZPP
reddit tracking is even worse in terms of length but doesn’t appear to hold a unique tracking code:
?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
utm_source: specifies the source of the traffic (for example, the platform or website where the link is placed).
utm_medium: indicates the medium through which the link was shared (such as email, social media, or advertising).
utm_campaign: identifies the overall marketing campaign associated with the link.
utm_term: identifies the specific keywords associated with a paid advertising campaign.
utm_content: differentiates between versions or elements of an ad, such as different ad creatives or variations.source (modified from): https://nordvpn.com/blog/how-to-remove-tracking-parameters-from-url/
what leaving unique tracking codes in a url enables
google (or whatever website) generates this instance of the tracking code just for you
when you post it on reddit, or share it with a friend and they visit the link..
the origin website can then connect your reddit account, or your friend, to you
non-unique information is less of a problem, but there is no need to hand over that information either
how you should make sure the links you send or post are clean
it would be nice if a best practice was simply to remove the ‘?’ and everything after it
unfortunately, sometimes useful things are stored in the additional string
for example, if you use the share button and use it to share a specific timestamp:
https://notyou.be/KZ-BbusMdkU?si=r19fX7jzypNZPP&t=66 <-- don’t use this link
here &t=66 is the part that sets the time for the video to start at
you can simply add that to the ‘clean’ version of the link like this:
https://www.notyoutube.com/watch?v=KZ-BbusMdkU&t=66
as another example, the original youtube link without any tracking uses ?v=KZ-BbusMdkU to specify the video
basically, you will just have to use common sense to figure out which parts are tracking in instances like this
clearly removing ?v=KZ-BbusMdkU from the clean version leaves only https://www.notyoutube.com/watch
that link will just take you to the main page, so clearly
in summary, when sharing links:
- avoid using sharing buttons unless you /need/ to use them (copy from the address bar instead)
- when in doubt, ablate off the ‘?’ (if there is one) and everything after it
- if this removes functionality, you may have to figure out which parts are tracking and which are useful