Click Propagation — And How It Impacts Marketing Attribution Accuracy

If you run Meta campaigns, you’ve probably seen these two scenarios many times 👇

🔹 Scenario 1 — “Open in Safari”

A user clicks your ad on Instagram and lands on your website inside the in-app browser. The experience feels limited, so they tap “Open in Safari”.

From the user’s perspective, it’s just a browser switch. Technically, however, it’s a new session — meaning cookies and tracking parameters (like fbclid or utm_source) from the in-app browser don’t carry over.

As a result, a conversion that happens later in Safari won’t be attributed to the original ad.
This undervalues Instagram’s impact and disrupts the ad optimization feedback loop.

🔹 Scenario 2 — Shared Links

Imagine someone scrolling through Facebook and clicking an ad for a hotel in Barcelona.

They explore the property, check dates, and copy the link to share it with their spouse —
who later books the hotel on their device.

If the shared link no longer contains the original tracking parameters, the booking won’t be connected to the original ad click.  So the Meta campaign that sparked the interest doesn’t get the credit it deserves — even though it played a key role in the conversion journey.

Why It Matters

These two situations — switching browsers and sharing links — create attribution gaps. When they happen at scale, they significantly distort your campaign performance data.

And this isn’t limited to Meta — the same issue affects platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and others.

That’s where click propagation comes in.

What Is Click Propagation?

Click propagation is a technical approach that ensures click identifiers (like fbclid, gclid, or UTM parameters) are preserved and transferred across different browsing contexts.

Its purpose: to maintain a consistent connection between the original ad click and the eventual conversion, even when the user’s path isn’t linear.

How It Solves the “Open in Browser” Problem

Here’s what happens under the hood:

1. A user clicks a Meta ad — Meta appends a unique click ID to the landing page URL (e.g. ?fbclid=12345).
2. As the user browses your website, this click ID and all tracking parameters are automatically appended to every internal link.
3. If the user opens the site in a new browser (like Safari), the same click ID and parameters are carried over in the URL, ensuring the connection between click and conversion remains intact.
4. When the user finally converts, the original click ID is preserved — allowing accurate attribution back to Meta.

Without click propagation, this connection breaks — leading to underreported performance.

How It Solves the “Shared Link” Problem

Click propagation ensures attribution stays intact when users share your links.

When a user first lands on your site from a Meta ad, identifiers like utm_source=meta&utm_campaign=spring_sale or fbclid are captured and appended to every internal link.

✅ This way, tracking parameters are never lost as the user navigates between pages.
✅ If they later copy or share a URL, that link already contains the original tracking data.

As a result, your analytics tools can correctly attribute the next visitor’s actions and conversions to the campaign that started it all.

How SegmentStream Handles It Automatically

While all this may sound technical — the good news is that SegmentStream does it for you.

SegmentStream has built-in support for cross-browser and cross-session click propagation,
ensuring that all user interactions — even those involving shared links or browser switches —
are properly tracked and attributed.

If you’d like to learn more, reach out to our team for a 1:1 consultation.