Find a click string or other ad identifier

This article provides instructions for capturing click strings or other unique ad identifiers on both computers and mobile devices. These ad identifiers are helpful when either reporting ads or troubleshooting ad delivery issues.

On this page

• Capture a click string from an ad on a computer
• Capture a click string from an ad on a mobile device
• Capture the ad or listing link from a YouTube ad

Click strings

Sometimes referred to as a click tag, a click string is part of the URL that takes the user to the ad's destination. A click string can come from display ads in web browsers or mobile apps and contains encoded information for the ad that gets displayed.

Capture a click string from an ad on a computer

Right-click the ad and copy the link address. If you can't right-click the ad, you may need to disable your computer's Internet connection, click the ad and then copy the URL that's in the address bar in your browser. 

There are a few other ways to find the click string of an ad using your computer: 

• Using a browser extension: There may be an extension available for your browser that can help. Extensions can capture a click string without needing to disable your computer's Internet connection.
• Using Charles proxy: You may be able to install the Charles web debugging proxy application and use it to capture click strings, as well as other information about ads. Learn more about Charles proxy

• Using Google Chrome: Chrome's DevTools can capture all traffic and save it into a .HAR file, including the click intermediate destinations such as the click string. To extract the .HAR file in Chrome:

  1. Right-click in the browser window or tab and select Inspect.
  2. In the panel that appears, click the Network tab.
  3. In DevTools settings, enable the option 'Auto-open DevTools for pop-ups'.
  4. Select the Preserve log tick box.
  5. Click the ad that you want to inspect. The tab that loads the landing page should open.
  6. Right-click any of the items in the 'Name' column and click Save all as HAR with content.
  7. Name the file and click Save.

     Content for all of the items in the column is saved in the same .HAR file.

     

Capture a click string from an ad on a mobile device

First, try long-pressing on an ad and then tapping Copy URL.

If that doesn't work, disconnect from any Internet or cellular service, then click or tap the ad. The ad will attempt to open in a browser window, but because there's no service it will not load. However, the click string is exposed in the URL. This approach can also be used on a computer.

If this doesn't work, for example when using Safari or Firefox, follow the instructions below to find and capture a click string from a mobile device:

iOS

1. Trigger ad.

2. Hold down ad headline with finger and swipe up.

3. Select Copy or Share.

Android

1. Trigger ad.

2. Hold down ad headline with finger.

3. Select Copy link address.

Ad or listing links

Capture the ad or listing link from a YouTube ad

For the purposes of troubleshooting ad delivery issues for a YouTube ad, you can copy the ad or listing link. To do this, you need to open your 'My Ad Centre' from the YouTube video where the ad appears and begin the process to report an ad.

It's important to note that you should not complete the steps to report the ad. These steps allow you to reveal the 'Ad or listing link' only.

1. Click the button shown at the bottom of the ad to open the 'My Ad Centre' panel.
2. In the 'My Ad Centre' panel, click Report ad to open the 'Report an ad' troubleshooter.
3. In the 'Report an ad' troubleshooter, select It violates Google policies...
4. Copy all of the text shown in the 'Ad or listing link...' field.