Tweet Button - count is 0 in case if shared URL has query parameters and count URL is not

[seredov]

We are adding tracking codes to URL used in tweets and it turned out, that in this case twitter count button is not counting tweets properly.

So for example we have page http://www.mtv.com/videos/buckwild-ep-5-double-trouble/1700356/playlist.jhtml and tweeter button on it which has http://www.mtv.com/videos/buckwild-ep-5-double-trouble/1700356/playlist.jhtml as count URL. But actual tweets are with http://www.mtv.com/videos/buckwild-ep-5-double-trouble/1700356/playlist.jhtml?xrs=share_twitter URL in it.

So twitter button is not showing counter properly.

Go to https://twitter.com/about/resources/buttons#tweet set Share URL to be
http://www.mtv.com/videos/buckwild-ep-5-double-trouble/1700356/playlist.jhtml see number is 0
now set Share URL to be http://www.mtv.com/videos/buckwild-ep-5-double-trouble/1700356/playlist.jhtml?xrs=share_twitter see that number is 2

I this is expected behavior. I believe previously query parameter were ignored to count tweet number.

[episod]

Query parameters, except for a very limited set of commonly-understood tracking parameters, are considered unique aspects of a URL. We don’t recognize the “xrs” parameter as one of these, so any appearance of it indicates a new URL from the core URL you’re intending.

[dberzin]

Taylor - this seems to be a recent change, and it effects our historical data and ability to track our on-site shares.

If this cant be reversed, can you let us know the list of approved tracking codes that you not deem to differentiate the canonical URL.

[seredov]

Somewhat inconsistent behavior here.

Working example
Page: http://www.mtv.com/videos/cah-out/873454/keisha.jhtml
Twitter original button count URL: http://www.mtv.com/videos/cah-out/873454/keisha.jhtml
counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fvideos%2Fcah-out%2F873454%2Fkeisha.jhtml
Twitter share URL: http://on.mtv.com/W5j5iP, http://www.mtv.com/videos/cah-out/873454/keisha.jhtml?xrs=share_twitter
Count numbers on https://twitter.com/about/resources/buttons#tweet (set ‘Share URL’ option)
http://www.mtv.com/videos/cah-out/873454/keisha.jhtml - 44
http://www.mtv.com/videos/cah-out/873454/keisha.jhtml?xrs=share_twitter - 1

Non working example
Page: http://www.nickmom.com/more-lols/things-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for/
Twitter original button count URL: http://www.nickmom.com/more-lols/things-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for/
counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nickmom.com%2Fmore-lols%2Fthings-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for%2F
Twitter share URL: http://s.nickmom.com/Xc3Bqg, http://www.nickmom.com/more-lols/things-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for/?xrs=share_twitter
Count numbers on https://twitter.com/about/resources/buttons#tweet (set ‘Share URL’ option)
http://www.nickmom.com/more-lols/things-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for/ - 44
http://www.nickmom.com/more-lols/things-my-kids-should-go-on-oprah-to-apologize-for/?xrs=share_twitter - 19

[paulhyland]

I don’t know if this is too old to reply to, but…

We were under the impression that count-url could be used to remove the query string from the url, so that we could share a URL with a campaign code in order to count how effective this sharing is at directing traffic back to our site.

See this page: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/11/05/ctq_bohstedt_mindfulness.html

The tweet button results in sharing this URL:

Mindful Moments: Teaching Students Self-Awareness

I would expect that your common tracking codes would include SiteCatalyst campaign code variables “cmp” and “intc” - what could be more common?

Here is our anchor tag with various attributes from your docs:

So we expected that any page with the counturl as the base would be counted in the same tweet button count, including cmp=SOC-SHR-TW as well as various other querystrings that might be added for other reasons, so especially ones with and without the cmp parameter would be counted together.

Various querystring parameters after the domain/path url seem to give the same tweet button count, but I’ve heard reports from my editors that they are undercounted.

Also, I don’t think we have a link rel=canonical tag in there, is that something we should add? (we are looking at this for other reasons already.)

[sfsekaran]

If this is the case, how are we supposed to run tests for different suggested tweet texts and different pages of our site for tracking/testing purposes?

Logically, it should be sufficient to use a canonical meta tag, as @paulhyland suggests. Does that work?

[niall]

[niall]