How to track Adobe Campaign URLs in Matomo FAQ - How to

Adobe Campaign uses a single cid URL parameter to encode multiple campaign values (e.g. campaign name, source, medium, keyword). This format differs from how Matomo expects campaign data, which relies on separate parameters like mtm_campaign, mtm_source, mtm_medium, and mtm_keyword.

By configuring either Matomo Tag Manager (MTM) or the Matomo JavaScript tracker, you can track Adobe Campaign URLs in the Matomo campaign reports. It allows you to preserve existing Adobe campaign links while maintaining accurate reporting within Matomo. This guide includes two configuration methods: using Matomo Tag Manager or the Matomo JavaScript tracker.

Implement only one method, depending on how you currently manage tracking on your site.

Configure Matomo Tag Manager

The configuration steps will refer to the following Adobe Campaign URL example: https://example.com/easterpromo.html?cid=se-easter2025:ch-web:sr-link:kw-easter

This contains:

se-easter2025 – campaign name
ch-web – medium
sr-link – source
kw-easter – keyword

Tracking these values in the campaign reports requires some parsing logic to extract each part of the cid string and map it to the relevant campaign parameters.

Create a Custom JavaScript variable

The custom JavaScript function will convert the cid parameter into Matomo-compatible values.

Go to Matomo Tag Manager > Variables.
Click Create New Variable and choose the Custom JavaScript Variable.
Provide a meaningful name, e.g., Adobe URL Parser.
Paste the following script in the JavaScript function field and save the variable.
Note: This script can be adapted to support other parameters.

function () {
    const queryString = window.location.search;
    const params = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
    const cid = params.get('cid');
    const finalURL = new URL(window.location.href);

    if (cid) {
        const splittedCid = cid.split(':');

        const matchingParams = {
            'se': 'mtm_campaign',
            'ch': 'mtm_medium',
            'sr': 'mtm_source',
            'kw': 'mtm_keyword',
        };

        const campaignParams = {};
        splittedCid.forEach(element => {
            const campaignValue = element.split('-');
            const key = matchingParams[campaignValue[0]];
            if (key && campaignValue[1]) {
                campaignParams[key] = campaignValue[1];
            }
        });

        Object.keys(campaignParams).forEach(param => {
            finalURL.searchParams.append(param, campaignParams[param]);
        });

        finalURL.searchParams.delete('cid');
    }

    return finalURL.href;
}

Set up a Pageview trigger with conditions

Go to Triggers and click Create New Trigger.
Choose the Pageview trigger and define a trigger condition. For example, Page URL contains easterpromo (for /easterpromo.html?cid=se-easter2025:ch-web:sr-link:kw-easter)
Save the trigger.

Set up the Matomo Analytics tag

Navigate to Tags and click Create New Tag.
Choose the Matomo Analytics Tag and use the default Pageview tracking type.
Scroll down to the Custom URL field and select the newly-created variable, e.g., Adobe URL Parser.
Link the Pageview trigger containing the Page URL trigger condition.
Only one pageview tracking tag should fire per page. If you already have a pageview tracking tag in place, modify its trigger to exclude campaign-specific pages, e.g., Page URL not contains easterpromo.
Save the new tag.
Publish your Matomo Tag Manager container.

Configure the Matomo JavaScript tracker

To track Adobe Campaign URLs using the Matomo JavaScript tracker (instead of Matomo Tag Manager), you’ll need to parse the cid parameter and convert it into Matomo-compatible campaign parameters using setCustomUrl.

Modify the Matomo JavaScript tracker in the campaign-specific pages by placing a parsing script before the trackPageView call in your Matomo tracking code. This extracts values from the cid parameter and rewrites the URL (in Matomo reports) with mtm_campaign, mtm_source, mtm_medium, and mtm_keyword. For example:

<!-- Matomo -->
<script>
  var _paq = window._paq = window._paq || [];

  // Parse 'cid' and rewrite as Matomo campaign parameters
  (function () {
    const url = new URL(window.location.href);
    const cid = url.searchParams.get('cid');

    if (cid) {
      const parts = cid.split(':');
      const matchingParams = {
        'se': 'mtm_campaign',
        'ch': 'mtm_medium',
        'sr': 'mtm_source',
        'kw': 'mtm_keyword',
      };

      const campaignParams = {};
      parts.forEach(element => {
        const [prefix, value] = element.split('-');
        const key = matchingParams[prefix];
        if (key && value) {
          campaignParams[key] = value;
        }
      });

      // Remove original 'cid' and append standard Matomo parameters
      url.searchParams.delete('cid');
      Object.keys(campaignParams).forEach(param => {
        url.searchParams.append(param, campaignParams[param]);
      });

      // Set the modified URL for tracking
      _paq.push(['setCustomUrl', url.href]);
    }

    // Continue with standard tracking
    _paq.push(['trackPageView']);
    _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']);
  })();

  (function() {
    var u = "https://mysubdomain.matomo.cloud/";
    _paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u + 'matomo.php']);
    _paq.push(['setSiteId', '1']);
  })();
</script>
<script src="https://cdn.matomo.cloud/mysubdomain.matomo.cloud/matomo.js"></script>
<!-- End Matomo Code -->

Add the full tracking code, including the parsing logic, only to the pages where Adobe Campaign URLs will be used (i.e. pages that include a cid parameter). On all other pages, use the default Matomo tracking code without additional modifications.

Test the configuration

Validate the integration by verifying that tracking is active and data is being sent to Matomo as expected. When testing, make sure tracking is not blocked by consent settings, ad blockers, or browser privacy features.

If using Matomo Tag Manager, open the Preview and debug mode to test the configuration.
Visit a page with a cid parameter (e.g. ?cid=se-easter2025:ch-web:sr-link:kw-easter).
Verify the trigger and tag fired as expected and the custom JavaScript variable is populated with the converted campaign URL.
Open Developer Tools > Network tab.
Filter for matomo.php and inspect the query string. The URL should now include Matomo campaign parameters,
https://example.com/page.html?mtm_campaign=easter2025&mtm_medium=web&mtm_source=link&mtm_keyword=easter
Go to Matomo > Visitors > Visits Log and confirm that the visit to the campaign page is recorded.
Check Acquisition > Campaigns to see campaign data appear over time.

Troubleshooting

The correct campaign values are not showing

Only one Pageview tag should fire per page. Check that your default Pageview tag does not conflict with the Adobe Campaign configuration.
Check the configuration of the Matomo Analytics tag that includes reference to the Javascript variable to convert the URL.
Double-check the string parsing in your custom JavaScript variable.
Verify the matomo.php request includes the mtm_campaign, mtm_source, mtm_medium, or mtm_keyword parameters.

The browser still shows the original cid URL

This is expected. The script modifies the tracking URL sent to Matomo, not the URL displayed in the browser’s address bar.
If needed, you can add custom JavaScript to update the visible URL using history.replaceState(). However, this is optional and generally not recommended if you’re preserving Adobe Analytics compatibility.

For more details on common tracking issues and how to resolve them, see What should I do if data is not being tracked?

Next steps

Analyse marketing campaign reports
Create Segments (for your Adobe Campaigns)
Define Goals and Funnels to track how your campaigns drive conversions
Create and analyse Custom Reports

Previous FAQ: How to Track Google Ads Campaigns with Matomo