Getting (not%20set) for UTM parameters with Install Referrer- Android

Question

I am using my custom broadcast receiver as follows to track UTM parameters.

 <receiver
    android:name=".services.CustomInstallListener" 
android:exported="true">
    <intent-filter>
      <action android:name="com.android.vending.INSTALL_REFERRER" />
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

 public class CustomInstallListener extends BroadcastReceiver {
    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
      if (intent.hasExtra("referrer")) {
       String data = intent.getStringExtra("referrer");
       String referrers[] = data.split("&");
       for (String referrerValue : referrers) {
         String keyValue[] = referrerValue.split("=");
         if (keyValue.length > 0) {
          if (keyValue[0].equalsIgnoreCase("utm_campaign")) {
            ... something                    
          }
        }
      }
  }

I have also implemented the InstallReferralClient as follows

referrerClient.startConnection(new InstallReferrerStateListener() {
@Override 
public void onInstallReferrerSetupFinished(int responseCode) {
   switch (responseCode) {
    case InstallReferrerClient.InstallReferrerResponse.OK:      
     ReferrerDetails response = null;
     try {
      response = referrerClient.getInstallReferrer();
     } catch (RemoteException e) {
       e.printStackTrace();
     }
   }
}
@Override
public void onInstallReferrerServiceDisconnected() {
}
});

And I used the Google Play Url Builder to generate this URL.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myapp&referrer=utm_source%3Dweb%26utm_medium%3Dlogo-click%26utm_term%3Dnew-install%26utm_content%3Dworld-cup%26utm_campaign%3Dworld-cup

Now I have it tried with both HTTP and https URLs and tried some other solutions following some other questions on StackOverflow but nothing seems to work.

Link1, Link2, Link3

For all the UTM parameters passed in the URL to play store, I am getting (not%20set) as value. I have also tried using the URL in the deep link from the branch and firebase dynamic links and I am getting the same error.

But I am sure that the code to handle this is correct as it returns campaign and medium value as Google and organic respectively when directly installing from Play Store.

Choanocyte

Answer 1

You're most likely logged into a managed account (e.g. a work email). It doesn't matter if you have your personal account active in Play Store. The Play Store consistently checks all accounts that you're signed into on that phone. If any of them are managed by an enterprise that it resets the referrer token. You can verify this by removing said account and retry sending the token.

I can't speak to why this is the intended behavior but perhaps someone from Google can shine some light.

Percolation

Thanks, it worked... Never thought this would be the case with this issue. – Choanocyte

Indeed it works. Can you please share any official Google docs on this? – Samellasameness

@Dmitry Salnikov unfortunately I could not find this documented anywhere officially. Merely found out about this behavior under testing. – Percolation

In my case I have tried to install with different utm_source but I am always getting utm_source = google-play utm_medium = organic – Ungrounded

@Percolation I am surprised that this is not documented anywhere. Is there any idea on why this would be happening? And what happens on Production for real users? – Daystar