Referer

Referer

 

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The Referer header is inserted into client requests to let the server know where the client got the URL from. This is a voluntary effort, for the server's benefit; it allows the server to better log the requests or perform other tasks. The misspelling of "Referer" hearkens back to the early days of HTTP, to the frustration of English-speaking copyeditors throughout the world.

What your browser does is fairly simple. If you get home page A and click on a link to go to home page B, your browser will insert a Referer header in the request with value A. Referer headers are inserted by your browser only when you click on links; requests for URLs you type in yourself will not contain a Referer header.

Because some pages are private, there are some privacy concerns with this header. While some of this is unwarranted paranoia, this header does allow web servers and their administrators to see where you came from, potentially allowing them to better track your surfing. As a result, the HTTP/1.1 specification recommends that application writers allow the user to decide whether this header is transmitted.

Type

Request header

Basic Syntax

Referer: (absoluteURL | relativeURL)

Example

Referer: http://www.inktomi.com/index.html