LinkCleanhttps://example.com/app-landing?gbraid=0AAAAAo123_4567abc-defghij
After LinkCleanhttps://example.com/app-landing
gbraid
Ad-click identifiers · Google Ads · introduced ~2021
What is gbraid?
Why gbraid exists (the ATT story)
When Apple rolled out App Tracking Transparency with iOS 14.5 (April 2021), every app had to ask permission to track users across apps and websites. Most users said no. That broke Google Ads' classic gclid model on iOS, which relied on a cross-app cookie/IDFA join to attribute an ad click to an eventual app install or web conversion.
Google's response was gbraid: an aggregated, privacy-respecting click identifier that doesn't need cross-app tracking permission. It attributes click → install at a campaign / ad-group level rather than at a per-user level, and works whether or not the user gave ATT permission.
Where you'll see it
gbraid lands on iOS Google Ads links headed to App Store or web destinations. If you tap a Google Search ad on iPhone Safari and the destination is an App Store page, the URL usually has ?gbraid=<token> attached.
It pairs with wbraid (web-only, iOS) and the classic gclid (everything else). All three coexist in Google Ads, used depending on platform context.
How LinkClean removes it
gbraid is in LinkClean's default ads catalog, stripped on every host. Same default-on treatment as gclid, wbraid, fbclid, msclkid, ttclid, yclid. Reverse-engineering by Branch and other attribution vendors documented gbraid's role; Google's own developer docs confirm it as the ATT-compatible replacement.
Frequently asked
Is gbraid the same as gclid?
Same role (ad-click attribution for Google Ads), different mechanism. gclid is per-click and cookie-bound; gbraid is aggregated at a campaign level and works without cross-app tracking permission. Both are stripped by LinkClean.
What changed with iOS 14 ATT that made gbraid necessary?
Apple's App Tracking Transparency, introduced in iOS 14.5 (April 2021), forced apps to request explicit permission to track users across apps and websites. Most users said no, breaking gclid's cross-cookie model. Google introduced gbraid as the aggregated, privacy-respecting iOS replacement.
Does gbraid follow me as an individual?
Less than gclid did. It attributes at campaign/ad-group level, not per-individual. From a privacy standpoint it's a smaller leak than gclid — but still attribution metadata you don't need to forward.
Will the page load without gbraid?
Yes. The destination server doesn't read it — only Google's conversion-tracking script does, post-load.
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.
