# s_kwcid — Adobe's AMO ID on ad clicks

- Canonical: https://linkclean.app/trackers/s-kwcid/
- Updated: 2026-10-05
- Author: Ken Tominaga (https://ken0nek.com)
- Get the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/linkclean/id6758604043

Parameter: `s_kwcid` · Category: Ad-click identifiers · Vendor: Adobe Advertising

> s_kwcid is **the AMO ID, the code Adobe Advertising adds to the landing page of an ad so Adobe Analytics can tell which ad brought the visit**. It names the channel, the ad network and the ad, campaign and keyword. It describes the ad rather than you, and LinkClean strips it on every site.

## What s_kwcid is

Adobe's documentation calls it the AMO ID: "Adobe Advertising shares data about your campaigns with Adobe Analytics using the AMO ID append parameter, also called the `s_kwcid` parameter". It applies to advertisers who connect the two Adobe products. Adobe adds that it is "sometimes pronounced as squid".

It arrives in two ways. With server-side insertion, Adobe's pixel server appends it when someone clicks a Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising ad, or views a display ad. Otherwise the advertiser adds it to the ad's landing-page suffix by hand.

## What the value encodes

The value is a run of fields separated by `!`. Adobe's format notes start search ads with `AL` and display ads with `AC`, followed by the advertiser's Adobe user ID and a number for the ad network: `3` for Google Ads, `10` for Microsoft Advertising, `45` for Meta. The rest describe the ad: for Google Ads, the creative, match type, placement, network, keyword, campaign and ad group.

So `s_kwcid=AL!1234!3!…` reads as "a search ad on Google Ads, for advertiser 1234". Adobe says the AMO ID tracks each ad combination "at a less granular level" than the EF ID below: in Adobe's terms it identifies the ad, and the per-browser identifier is a different parameter.

## Its partner, ef_id

On click-through traffic Adobe puts a second parameter beside it, `ef_id`. Adobe describes the EF ID as "a unique token" that associates activity "at the individual browser or device level". That is the more personal of the two. **LinkClean does not remove `ef_id` yet**: it is not in the catalog.

## How LinkClean removes it

`s_kwcid` is default-on and global; the landing page loads the same without it. Sites that use Adobe Analytics also tag their own marketing links with a different parameter, [s_cid](https://linkclean.app/trackers/s-cid/).

## Example

Looks like this in a URL: `https://www.example.com/shoes?s_kwcid=AL!1234!3!567890!e!!g!!running%20shoes&color=red`

After LinkClean: `https://www.example.com/shoes?color=red`

## Frequently asked

**What does s_kwcid stand for?**

Adobe does not spell it out. It calls the parameter the AMO ID. The kw reads as keyword, and that is an inference from the name.

**Does s_kwcid identify me?**

Adobe describes it as identifying the ad combination, not the person. The ef_id that often travels with it is the per-browser token.

**Is it safe to remove s_kwcid?**

Yes. It is read by Adobe Analytics to attribute the visit. The page does not need it.


---

LinkClean removes tracking parameters from links on-device — free to clean, one-time Pro. https://linkclean.app/ · Cite freely with attribution.