utm

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utm_ is a commonly used prefix for URL query parameters used for tracking (like utm_medium utm_source utm_campaign) by various media and content publishing sites; it is considered good URL design to automatically drop them when publishing, sharing, or just linking to a URL that has them.

Tools

• Aaron Parecki has an open source PHP function in p3k-utils (p3k) that removes utm tracking parameters from a URL
  • https://github.com/aaronpk/p3k-utils/blob/master/src/url.php#L29

See Also

• URL design
• https://twitter.com/xor/status/1026164197485424640
  • "We know little about that ancient culture, and even less about the "web" they used to communicate, but we believe the incantation "utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook" was very significant to them" @xor August 5, 2018
• https://twitter.com/EmilyKager/status/1152027018982068226
  • "Real friends
    1. Text you back
    2. Make time for you
    3. Delete all the UTM parameters and referrals before sending you a garbage URL" @EmilyKager July 19, 2019
• a header to add to ignore utm cruft for cache purposes https://csswizardry.com/2026/05/better-browser-caching-with-no-vary-search/