Whats the difference between Referrer and Initial referrer?

Hi Ani A., Please stand by as I search the Mixpanel knowledge base for an AI-powered answer. I normally take about 15 seconds or so. In case AI cannot answer your question, feel free to reach out to Mixpanel support at mixpanel.com/get-support. If you have follow-up questions for this thread, please tag me again with your question: @kapa.ai <follow-up question> 👋

The difference between Referrer and Initial Referrer in Mixpanel is as follows: - Referrer ($referrer): This property captures the referring URL for the current event, including your own domain. It reflects where the user came from immediately before triggering the event. If the user lands directly on your site or if the referring website uses the rel="noreferrer" parameter, this property may be omitted.- Initial Referrer ($initial_referrer): This property records the referring URL when the user first arrived on your site. It is stored in the Mixpanel cookie and remains the same for all future events as long as the cookie is not cleared. If the user was not referred by another website (e.g., they typed the URL directly or used a bookmark), this property defaults to $direct Default Properties: Event Properties Web Attribution.In summary: - Referrer = Where the user came from for the current event. - Initial Referrer = Where the user came from on their very first visit (persists across sessions).This distinction helps you analyze both the original acquisition source and the immediate previous source for any user action.

ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.