GCLID vs GBRAID vs WBRAID: Decoding Google's Ad Identifiers in 2026

If you run Google Ads, you've probably noticed something odd in your landing-page URLs. Some clicks arrive with the familiar gclid parameter. Others show up with gbraid or wbraid instead. And if your tracking only captures gclid, you're silently losing attribution data on a growing share of your traffic  because Google now uses three different click identifiers depending on the device, browser, and the user's privacy settings.

Here's what each one is, when Google sends it, and why capturing all three now matters more than ever.

THE SHORT VERSION
- GCLID is the original Google Click Identifier, used since 2005. It's the gold standard — a rich, deterministic identifier tied to a single click, carrying campaign, ad group, keyword, device, and more. But it only works where Apple allows it.
- GBRAID and WBRAID are the privacy-safe parameters Google introduced in 2021 for iOS traffic where gclid can no longer be used. They measure performance in aggregate, without identifying an individual user.