404 on redirect click after visit from Google Ads

Resolved precies
(@precies)

2 months ago
Hello,

We have been using this plug-in for years and always enjoyed it. It always works very well, but we have just encountered a problem that concerns us.

We have been running Google Ads for several months and the results were very disappointing. We have looked into almost everything it could be and found out the following last week.

I will try to explain the situation as best I can.

1) If we go to our website via a Google Advertisement, a UTM and CLICKID (GCLID) are placed behind the URL. For example like this: ?matchtype=e&utm_source=GoogleAds&utm_campaign=21269239426&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1M31t8iohwMVPpJQBh3MmAXQEAAYAiAAEgIC8fD_BwE&gad_source=1

2) If we stay on this page (landingspage after de Google Ad click and do not navigate further on the website) and click on an outgoing link with a redirect (from Redirection), we will not be redirected but will receive a 404 error. So the outgoing click does not work.

3) We think this has to do with the Google Ads parameters that are placed behind the URL. If we navigate on the website to another page and then click on an outgoing link, the redirect will work because then these Google Ads parameters will be stripped from the URL.

We are probably missing out on thousands of euros in income as a result and we are curious why this is happening and, most importantly, how can we solve this as quickly as possible?

Are there more people with this problem?

If anyone could help us, we would really appreciate it.

Yours sincerely,
Joep
- This topic was modified 2 months ago by precies.
- This topic was modified 2 months ago by precies.
- This topic was modified 2 months ago by precies.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

Plugin Author John Godley
(@johnny5)

2 months ago

Have you used the ‘ignore query parameter’ option?
Thread Starter precies
(@precies)

2 months ago
Hello John,

Thank you for this fast response!

This is a setting that works for all redirects we made? What is the difference between:
- Ignore all query parameters
- Ignore and pass all query parameters
If I enable this option, will this affect the query parameters that are in the set in the Target URL (after the redirect) or just the query parameters that are in the current URL from for example Google Ads?
Plugin Author John Godley
(@johnny5)

2 months ago

The support guide has this information:

https://redirection.me/support/matching-a-url/

You can set it per redirect or as a default for all redirects.

Thread Starter precies
(@precies)

2 months ago

Hello John,

Thank you, I read the guide and I have one last question I think. So if my URL is like this:

https://website.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAlalQobChMl4aWew4mphwMVLJhQMgEAMYAiAAEgJbr_D_BwE

And when I click on a redirect link like this:

Source URL = https://website.com/out/homepage-other-website

Target URL = https://affiliatewebsite.com/product/#a/a_aid=603f4635a0219&a_cid=98d6b5b8&chan=hompage

This wil not work if I don’t ignore the parameters in my URL?

If I change the setting to ignore all parameters this should work?

Kind regards,

Joep

Plugin Author John Godley
(@johnny5)

2 months ago

None of those URLs match up so I’m not sure what your question is.

To clarify, ignore query parameters means the source URL will match regardless of what the query parameters in the request are.

Ignore and pass is the same, but the query parameters are added to the target URL.

Thread Starter precies
(@precies)

2 months ago

Hello John,

I’m trying to figure out why my redirects aren’t working if someone lands on our website via Google Ads that ads a parameter to our URL. When a visitor of our website visits us via Google Ads a parameter from Google Ads is added to our website URL, like this:

https://website.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAlalQobChMl4aWew4mphwMVLJhQMgEAMYAiAAEgJbr_D_BwE

When we navigate through our website this parameter wil stick after every URL of our website. When we click on a button with an outgoing URL setup with the Redirection Plugin, like this:

Source URL = https://website.com/out/homepage-other-website

Target URL = https://affiliatewebsite.com/product/#a/a_aid=603f4635a0219&a_cid=98d6b5b8&chan=hompage

We receive a 404 error on our website, the redirect isn’t working.

When our URL looks like this: https://website.com/, without parameters and we click on the button with an outgoing link made with the Redirection plug-in the redirect IS working GOOD. So we are pretty sure the parameter from Google Ads that is added to our URL is breaking the Redirect for some reason.

So what I am asking is, why is this happening and how can we fix this? If we use the setting “Ignore all Parameters”, do you think that is the solution for this problem?

Plugin Author John Godley
(@johnny5)

2 months ago

Why not try the option and see? It seems to do what you need.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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