At a Glance : This article explains the difference between gross clicks and unique clicks, and clarifies why the number of gross clicks is often higher than the number of unique clicks—even when no clicks are being rejected.
Overview
Why Is There a Difference Between Gross Clicks and Unique Clicks, Even When None Are Rejected?
To understand this difference, it's important to first define what qualifies as a gross click versus a unique click in a campaign report.
What Are Gross Clicks?
Gross clicks represent the total number of all clicks received on your campaign link. This includes:
First-time (unique) clicks
Duplicate clicks (from the same user/device)
Cancelled clicks
Clicks that were eventually rejected
In short, every interaction with the link is counted under gross clicks, regardless of whether it’s from a new or returning user.
What Are Unique Clicks?
A unique click refers to the first time a user clicks on a campaign link, based on their device or IP address, within a defined period of time (called the session window).
Any additional clicks from the same user/device within that session period are not counted as unique.
Unlike total (gross) clicks, which count every single click, unique clicks only count one click per user during that session. This helps us track how many individual users interacted with the campaign, rather than how many total clicks occurred.
Example:
If the same user clicks the campaign link five times in a day, it will be counted as
1 unique click
5 gross clicks
In our system, the unique click session duration is set to 168 hours (7 days). This means:
If a user clicks the link for the first time, it is recorded as:
Is Unique: Yes | Is Rejected: NoIf the same user clicks again within 168 hours, it is recorded as:
Is Unique: No | Is Rejected: Yes
(The system identifies this as a duplicate.)If the user clicks again after 168 hours, the system treats it as a new unique click:
Is Unique: Yes | Is Rejected: No
However, if duplicate click rejection is disabled in the campaign settings, then the second or third click within the 168-hour window will be recorded as:
Is Unique: No | Is Rejected: No
So, while it isn’t rejected, it also isn’t considered a unique click.
Example:
If IP address 105.89.22.213 clicks the link multiple times within a few seconds, only the first of those clicks will be marked as unique. The rest are recorded in the gross click count, but they do not qualify as unique clicks.
This explains why the number of gross clicks is often higher than the number of unique clicks, even when no clicks are being rejected.
Even if no clicks are rejected, gross clicks can be higher because users may click more than once and multiple clicks from the same user are counted as gross clicks.
However, only the first click counts as a unique click,helping you know how many real users clicked, while still tracking all repeated clicks for total activity.
We're thrilled to have put together a top-notch team of qualified experts who are available to handle any of your concerns and respond to any inquiries you may have. You can contact us at any time by sending an email to support@trackier.com or using the in-platform chat feature.
