s_objectID

The s_objectID variable provides a unique identifier for a link. It is used to make reports in Activity Map more accurate. If you have links on a page that frequently change, you can use the s_objectID variable to tell Activity Map of a unique link location so it can correctly group data as desired.

If Activity Map accuracy is crucial to your organization, Adobe recommends including the s_objectID variable in the onClick event of links on your site. See Activity Map link tracking use cases in the Analyze user guide for more information.

Object ID using the Adobe Analytics extension

There is not a dedicated field in the Adobe Analytics extension to use this variable. Use the custom code editor, following AppMeasurement syntax.

s_objectID in AppMeasurement and the Analytics extension custom code editor

The s_objectID variable is a global variable, meaning that it operates independently of the Analytics tracking object (s by default). Valid values for this variable can be any string up to 100 bytes in length. If this variable is not defined, Activity Map uses the link URL as the identifier for the link.

This variable is typically set in the onClick event of an HTML link.

<a href="https://example.com" onClick="s_objectID='Example identifier';">Example link</a>

Use cases

The s_objectID variable is valuable whenever you want increased accuracy in Activity Map reporting.

Aggregate links from highly dynamic content

Some sites have highly dynamic content, such as news sites or retail sites with frequently rotating items. Since Activity Map uses the link URL as an identifier by default, it is difficult to understand the most-clicked areas on pages where links change frequently. If you use the s_objectID within these links, Activity Map understands which links can be aggregated, regardless of the URLs they point to.

<a href="story1.html" onClick="s_objectID='Top left link';">Story 1</a>
<a href="story2.html" onClick="s_objectID='Top center link';">Story 2</a>
<a href="story3.html" onClick="s_objectID='Top right link';">Story 3</a>

Regardless of where the links point or how often you change these links, Activity Map aggregates data based on the value in s_objectID.

Keep links separate on a page

Some sites have links that point to the same location in different places. For example, a link to the home page in both the header and footer on your site. Since these links have the same URL, Activity Map aggregates their data. You can separate them using the s_objectID variable:

<a href="index.html" onClick="s_objectID='Header home link';">Example link in Header</a>
<a href="index.html" onClick="s_objectID='Footer home link';">Example link in Footer</a>

Even if links point to the same URL, Activity Map can use the s_objectID variable to correctly distinguish them in reporting.