A referrer tells an analytics tool where a visit came from at the moment it arrived. Without cookies, that is usually what a tool can credit reliably within the same visit. Linking a later visit back to an earlier one needs a durable identifier, and cookieless tracking removes that link. Matomo’s public documentation describes this boundary clearly, so it is a useful reference for anyone thinking through referrer handling in a cookieless tool. The behavior described here is Matomo’s, as documented on its help and developer pages when checked in October 2026. Other analytics products may handle referrers differently.
Where the referrer value comes from
A referrer is a piece of request data, not a record of the visitor. Two inputs are relevant in Matomo’s model:
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- The HTTP
Refererheader. The browser sends it with the page request, and Matomo’s tracker may use it to identify the website, search engine, or social network that sent the visitor. - The
urlrefparameter in the HTTP Tracking API. It is optional and accepts the full HTTP referrer URL. It is the field Matomo uses to determine how a visitor arrived when a server-side or API-based tracking call supplies that value.
Keep three ideas separate when you design or read a report. The source of a visit is the referrer or campaign data captured on that visit. The session is the period of activity grouped as one visit. The identity is whatever lets the system recognize the same person on a later visit. A referrer gives you the first, can support the second, and does not provide the third on its own.
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What cookieless tracking changes
Matomo’s guidance on cookieless tracking separates two situations.
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Same-visit attribution still works
Matomo states that, when a conversion happens within the same visit, it can credit the website referrer even with cookies disabled. Its official FAQ puts it this way: “When the conversion happens in the same visit, Matomo will be able to credit the website referrer (even if cookies are disabled).” This is the documented case in which a cookieless setup keeps the referrer useful for attribution.
Cross-visit attribution does not
Matomo’s example describes a visitor who arrives through a tagged newsletter campaign, leaves without buying, and returns later by typing the address directly. With cookies enabled, the original campaign can receive credit for the purchase. In cookieless tracking, that earlier campaign information is unavailable, so the conversion is reported against the direct visit. This is the mechanism behind campaigns that later appear as direct traffic.
The same limitation reaches the audience metrics. Matomo says unique visitor, new visitor, and returning visitor metrics become inaccurate when cookies are disabled. Multi-attribution and cohort reports will not show data for cookieless visitors. If your dashboard depends on those views, plan for gaps rather than treating them as rounding errors.
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Attribution is a set of rules about which referrer gets credit when a visitor has several touchpoints. Matomo documents three options, and each answers a different question.
| Option | Which referrer gets credit | What to check before relying on it |
|---|---|---|
| Last non-empty referrer (Matomo’s documented default) | The most recent referrer that carried a value | Visits with no referrer do not overwrite the earlier value, but a return visit can still displace an earlier campaign if it arrives with a referrer. |
| First referrer (a tracker setting) | The referrer that started the visit sequence Matomo recorded | Shows how a visitor found you, but may overstate the early channel when the conversion came from later activity. |
| Multi-channel attribution | Credit distributed across multiple referrers | Needs enough recorded touchpoints to be meaningful. Under cookieless tracking, earlier touchpoints from a later visit may be absent. |
The point is not to find the “right” model. The point is to state which one you use, so that a report’s numbers can be read in the correct context.
Privacy: referrer URLs can carry identifiers
Dropping cookies does not remove personal data from referrer URLs. Matomo warns that referrer URLs may include identifiers or other details that could identify someone when combined with other data. Its controls reduce what is stored, and each one trades diagnostic precision for privacy.
| Referrer setting | What is stored | Diagnostic precision | Privacy exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do not anonymize | Full referrer URL | Highest; shows the exact page and parameters | Highest; URLs may contain identifiers |
| Remove query parameters | Referrer URL without its query string | Keeps path-level detail; drops tracking and identifier parameters | Lower, though path segments can still carry information |
| Keep only the referrer domain | Domain only | Identifies the sending site, not the page | Lower; Matomo notes the subdomain is retained and could itself contain identifying information |
| Store the type only, not the URL | Broad source type, such as website, search engine, or social network | Lowest; enough for channel grouping, not for diagnosing a specific page | Lowest of the four options |
Matomo also states that these referrer anonymization settings do not affect campaign information taken from the current URL. Check that separately, because a campaign tag you thought was stripped may still be stored from the landing address.
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Tracker controls to configure
Matomo’s JavaScript tracker exposes three methods that matter for referrer handling. They are listed here by name, so you can find them in Matomo’s developer documentation.
setReferrerUrl()overrides the detected HTTP referrer with a value you specify. Use it when the browser’s referrer is missing or wrong, for example after a redirect that drops it.setExcludedReferrers()tells the tracker to ignore specified hosts or domains. Add your own domains here so internal navigation does not appear as a referral source.disableCookies()turns off first-party cookies. Expect the reporting limits described above once you do.
A setup checklist
- Write down which question the referrer answers: channel grouping, campaign performance, or page-level diagnosis. Each needs a different level of detail.
- Choose one attribution option and document it where report readers will see it.
- Choose a privacy level for stored referrer URLs. Set it deliberately rather than inheriting the most detailed option.
- Exclude your own domains so internal navigation does not inflate referral counts.
- Label cookieless unique, new, and returning visitor figures as approximate, and expect cohort and multi-attribution views to be empty for those visitors.
- Test a campaign link end to end: arrive, leave, return directly, and confirm which source the report credits.
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The Bottom Line
In a cookieless tool, the referrer is a reliable signal for where a visit came from, but it is not a memory of the visitor. Decide in advance how much referrer detail you store, which touchpoint earns credit, and which reports you will stop trusting for cookieless visitors.
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