Google Adds Android Referrer Tracking For Analytics

Feb 18, 2016 - 8:00 am 1 — by
Filed Under Web Analytics

Mobile18 Google 1900px

Yesterday, Google announced on Google+ that they now support referrer tracking for Android apps. This will give Android app marketers the data on the sources of your app installs.

"Referrer tracking helps you understand the source that led users to install your app, and is used by Google Analytics and other mobile analytics platforms to provide reporting," Google said. If there is no referrer parameter in the URL, Google will assign a default to separate organic installs from deeplinks (i.e. a third party referral to your Play Store listing). In the past, a referrer would only be registered if a parameter was added to the URL the user clicked to arrive at your app’s Play Store listing.

The example given by Google was for organic source installs, the default referrer will now be set as: utm_source=google-play&utm_medium=organic and for deeplinks, the referrer will now be set as: utm_source=(not%20set)&utm_medium=(not%20set).

You can read the full integration document at developers help where it goes through a ton of examples.

I do not see any keyword data here but it is more than what we had a few days ago.

Forum discussion at Google+.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search News

The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Nick Wilsdon - Loved By Industry

Oct 12, 2026 - 2:00 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 12, 2026

Oct 12, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google

Third-Party Google Rank Tracking Struggling Now

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Using Google AI For Goals & Assets

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing & Copilot Experimenting With Microsoft-Decision-1

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google AI Overviews For Typos & No Search Results

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Adds AMP Webmaster Help Forum