LinkCleanhttps://example.com/landing?dclid=CKjK8q-abcde12345fghij&utm_source=display&utm_campaign=spring
After LinkCleanhttps://example.com/landing
dclid
Ad-click identifiers · Google Display & Video 360 (formerly DoubleClick) · introduced ~2008
What is dclid?
What dclid actually identifies
Google's Display & Video 360 (formerly DoubleClick Campaign Manager — the “dc” in dclid) runs the display-banner and YouTube-pre-roll side of Google's ad business. Where Search Ads use gclid, DV360 uses dclid: same role (tie the click to the impression, campaign, ad creative), different ad network.
DoubleClick was acquired by Google in 2008 and folded into the Marketing Platform; dclid has carried the “dc” prefix from that era forward.
Where you'll see it
On display banners served via Google's Display Network, on pre-roll ads served on YouTube and DV360's video supply, and on outbound clicks from those surfaces. Often shows up *alongside* gclid on links that pass through multiple Google ad systems.
How LinkClean removes it
Default-on in the ads catalog. Same pipeline as gclid, gbraid, wbraid, msclkid, fbclid.
Frequently asked
Why is dclid sometimes alongside gclid?
When a click passes through more than one Google ad system (e.g. a Display Network banner that's also tied to a Search campaign), both ad networks tag the URL. Both belong to the same advertiser's Google Ads account but feed different attribution reports.
Is dclid still in use after the DoubleClick rebrand?
Yes. Display & Video 360 (DV360) inherited the dclid scheme from DoubleClick Campaign Manager. The brand changed; the URL parameter didn't.
Does dclid carry per-user identity?
Less than gclid did pre-iOS-14. Today it's largely aggregated for attribution — but still ad-tracking metadata you don't need to forward.
Clean tracking on iPhone, in one tap.
LinkClean strips ~80 vendor-specific tracking parameters from any link, from any app's share sheet — and preserves functional ones like hl, t (YouTube timestamp), and q (search). No account, on-device.
