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Glossary

Referrer

Also called referer, HTTP referer.

The address of the page a visitor came from, sent by the browser when they follow a link.

When someone clicks a link, the browser usually tells the new site where they came from, in the Referer header (the misspelling is in the original HTTP standard). Analytics tools turn the referring address into a source, such as Google or Facebook.

Under the default policy, strict-origin-when-cross-origin, a browser sends only the origin to other sites, such as https://news.example.com/, and sends nothing at all from a secure page to an insecure one (MDN). Sites can choose a stricter policy, and many apps send no referrer at all.

That is why referrers are good for sources you do not control, such as search engines and other sites, and UTM tags are better for links you share yourself.

Related terms

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All 58 terms · Spotted a mistake? Email hello@sporetag.com.