Overview
This check validates that your marketing query parameters (such as utm_source, cid, or gclid) survive any server-side or client-side redirects before the Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) Web SDK can capture them.
In a modern AEP implementation, the Web SDK typically fires on the first available page event. However, if a user clicks an ad and lands on a URL that immediately redirects (e.g., from http to https or from a legacy URL to a new one), the browser often strips the query parameters during that jump. This check ensures that the "hand-off" between the landing URL and the final destination URL keeps your tracking data intact.
Why it is important
Redirects are the "silent killer" of accurate marketing attribution and personalization in AEP:
Attribution Loss: If a
cidorutmparameter is stripped during a redirect, AEP will categorize the visit as "Direct" traffic. This under-reports the value of your marketing campaigns.Broken Personalization: AEP often uses inbound query parameters to qualify a user for a real-time segment. If the parameter is lost, the user will see a generic experience instead of the personalized one intended for that campaign.
Inaccurate Profiles: The Real-time Customer Profile in AEP relies on these touchpoints to build a history of how a user interacts with your brand. Missing parameters lead to "blind spots" in the customer journey.
Wasted Budget: Without persistent parameters, you cannot accurately calculate the Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) for campaigns that land on redirecting URLs.
Implementation
We have made implementing this check for AEP Tags simple.
Create an Audit. In addition to crawling, we recommend you populate the starting URL field with active campaign URLs (e.g.,
example.com/promo?cid=123).Optional: Talk to our support team about automatically importing the URLs for your active campaigns to ensure we are always scanning the latest active campaigns.
Check the pre-built ObservePoint report on Pages that lose query parameters after redirects.
ObservePoint flags a failure if the parameters are present on the initial request but missing from the final page load where the AEP Tag fires.
Remediation
If your query parameters are being lost during redirects, investigate these common technical gaps:
Update Redirect Logic: Configure your server (Apache, Nginx, or IIS) to use a "Pass-Through" or "Append" flag on 301 and 302 redirects so that any incoming query strings are automatically added to the destination URL.
Avoid Client-Side Redirects: Avoid using
window.location.hrefor meta-refresh tags for marketing landing pages, as these are more likely to drop parameters than server-side redirects.Check CMS Behavior: Some Content Management Systems (CMS) automatically "cleanse" URLs of unknown parameters. Ensure your tracking keys (like
cid) are whitelisted in your CMS settings.Standardize URL Formatting: Ensure that your marketing teams always link to the final, secure version of a URL (e.g., use
httpsand include the trailing/if required) to avoid unnecessary redirects.
Initial URL | Redirected (final page) URL | Result |
| Failure: | |
| Success: Parameters persisted. | |
Failure: HTTP to HTTPS jump lost the data. |
Conclusion
A redirect should never be the end of your tracking journey. By using ObservePoint to ensure your query parameters persist through every transition, you protect the integrity of your Adobe Experience Platform data and ensure that your marketing investments are always accurately measured.