---
title: "What is the gclid parameter and why does it matter for click fraud?"
description: "The gclid is a unique identifier Google appends to your landing page URL on every paid ad click. It matters because it is the only field that separates visitors you paid for from organic traffic,..."
url: https://blockclickfraud.com/faq-items/what-is-the-gclid-parameter-and-why-does-it-matter-for-click-fraud/
date: 2026-09-20
modified: 2026-09-20
author: "Block Click Fraud"
type: faq
lang: en
---

# What is the gclid parameter and why does it matter for click fraud?

The gclid is a unique identifier Google appends to your landing page URL on every paid ad click. It matters because it is the only field that separates visitors you paid for from organic traffic, bookmarks and crawlers in your server logs. If your hosting discards query strings from logs, the gclid goes with them and any address analysis you build afterwards is guesswork.

What is the gclid parameter and why does it matter for click fraud?[Block Click Fraud](https://blockclickfraud.com/author/block-click-fraud/)2026-09-20T07:08:48+00:00