Click ID (gclid / fbclid / wbraid)
A click ID is a unique URL parameter an ad platform adds at click time (gclid, fbclid, msclkid, ttclid) so a conversion can be matched back to the exact ad click.
An ad platform appends its click ID to your landing-page URL at click
time. One ID identifies exactly one click, which makes it the
deterministic join key between money spent and outcomes earned: a gclid
stored in your CRM is what lets a closed deal be uploaded back to Google
Ads as an offline conversion.
| Platform | Click ID |
|---|---|
| Google Ads | gclid (wbraid/gbraid in privacy-constrained iOS contexts) |
| Meta | fbclid |
| Microsoft Ads | msclkid |
| TikTok | ttclid |
li_fat_id |
#Click IDs vs UTMs
A UTM is a label you write, readable in any tool. A click ID is an opaque key only the issuing platform can decode. They ride the same URL and do different jobs. Click IDs are also easy to lose: redirects that strip query strings, URL cleaners, and consent-blocked capture scripts all sever them, and a lost ID is a conversion that can't be matched back to its click.
In practice: click IDs are the match keys in Buron's attribution datasets, captured by the first-party pixel and stitched into the identity map.
What each platform's ID lets you do is covered in Click IDs: what gclid, fbclid, and wbraid do; the uploads they power in Offline conversion tracking.
Related terms
Identity resolution
Identity resolution (user stitching) connects events and records carrying different identifiers (hashed email, user ID, click ID, device ID) into one person.
Offline conversions
Offline conversions complete away from your website and are imported back into the ad platform afterward, joined to the original ad click by click ID or hashed email.
UTM parameters
UTM parameters are the standard URL query parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content) that attribute a visit to its campaign.