LinkCleanhttps://example.com/landing?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12345678&gclid=Cj0KCQ
After LinkCleanhttps://example.com/landing
gad_source
Ad-click identifiers · Google Ads · introduced ~2023 · Updated 2026-07-20
What is gad_source?
What gad_source encodes
Google's auto-tagging system gained a series of gad_* parameters in 2023 as part of the GA4 migration. gad_source is a small numeric code — typically a single digit — that identifies which Google Ads surface generated the click. Google doesn't publish the mapping; community observation pins the common low values as 1 (Search Ads), 2 (Display Network), 3 (YouTube), 5 (Shopping), while higher values like 4, 6 and 7 have no public consensus.
On its own gad_source carries less attribution power than gclid — but it's used in combination with gad_campaignid and the older gclid to disambiguate where a click came from when Google's downstream analytics joins the data.
Why it appeared recently
GA4 deprecated some of the older referrer-driven source attribution that Universal Analytics relied on. To keep the source/medium dimension populated reliably in GA4, Google started adding gad_source + gad_campaignid to outbound clicks as supplementary first-party tags. They sit alongside the classic utm_* and gclid rather than replacing them.
How LinkClean removes it
Default-on. Same default-on treatment as the rest of the gad_* family. No legitimate non-tracking use of this exact name.
Frequently asked
Why did Google add gad_source if gclid already existed?
Because GA4 needed first-party source/medium signals that don't rely on the cookie or referrer plumbing Universal Analytics had used. gad_source + gad_campaignid are durable first-party tags that survive cookie restrictions.
What do the gad_source numeric values mean?
Google doesn't publish the mapping. Community observation pins the common values as 1 = Search Ads, 2 = Display Network, 3 = YouTube, 5 = Shopping; values like 4, 6 and 7 aren't reliably documented. The Google ad-click parameters overview covers the whole gad_* / gclid family.
Will removing gad_source affect what I see?
No. It's read by analytics scripts, not by the destination page.
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.
