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Why does our scanner arrive with a source? Because a URL scanner can send a Referer header that tells the destination which page or origin the request claims to have come from. A site can use that value to choose what to return, so a scanner request with a source may get a different result from one without it. The header is supplied by the client; it does not prove where a visitor actually came from.

What does the Referer header tell a site?

The HTTP field is spelled Referer, although “referrer” is the conventional English spelling. When a browser follows a link or requests a resource, it may send this header with the address of the page that led to the request. Depending on policy, that address can include the referring page’s origin, path, and query string. It does not include the fragment or user-info.

The destination can read the value and make decisions based on it. But the value is request data supplied by the client, not an authenticated record of a visitor’s path. A site can treat it as a signal; it should not treat it as proof of source identity. MDN’s Referer reference describes the header and its behavior.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Why does the scanner’s source sometimes look incomplete—or disappear?

The browser or scanner’s referrer policy determines whether the header is sent and how much address it contains. A scanner that has a source may be sending only an origin, not the full search or referring URL.

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  • no-referrer suppresses the header.
  • origin sends only the origin, such as the scheme, host, and port.
  • strict-origin-when-cross-origin, a common policy, sends the full address for same-origin requests, only the origin for secure cross-origin requests, and no header when a secure page makes a request to an insecure destination.

These rules explain why two requests associated with the same apparent source may arrive with different header values. MDN’s Referrer-Policy reference details the available policies.

How can a source value change the page a scanner sees?

A site can branch on the incoming Referer: a request without one may receive a default page, while a request carrying an accepted source may receive different content or follow a different redirect path. The request header is just one input, but it can be enough to trigger different server behavior.

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The research paper Cloak of Visibility describes cloaking software that checks incoming Referer values to identify visitors arriving from search portals. Its detection pipeline supplied a Referer to address that evasion technique. The paper also describes other delivery differences, including redirects, server-side content changes, and crawler-only errors.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Cloudflare’s URL Scanner documentation includes an API example with a referer field, alongside options such as a custom user agent and custom headers. That shows how a scanner can be configured to send a chosen source value. It does not make the request indistinguishable from a browser visit: one header does not reproduce the visitor’s browser, network, or wider context.

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Why does a scanner without a referrer see a clean page?

A request with no Referer may enter a different branch from one carrying a source the site recognizes. That can explain why a scanner’s “cold” request sees a clean page while a request with a selected source sees something else. But a clean result under one condition does not establish what every visitor, source, or browser receives.

Google Search Central defines cloaking as “the practice of presenting different content to users and search engines with the intent to manipulate search rankings and mislead users.” A difference triggered by a request header alone does not establish that intent. The term should be applied with care: differing output is an observation, not by itself proof of why the site produced it. Google’s spam policies provide the official definition.

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How to compare the scanner’s results

Run controlled requests against the same target, changing one condition at a time. Compare no referrer, an origin-only value, and a source value the site may accept. This is a way to isolate the header’s effect, not a guarantee that the site uses only that signal.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

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  1. Record the request condition. Note whether the Referer is absent, origin-only, or a fuller URL, and record the exact value used.
  2. Keep other inputs constant. Use the same target and, where the scanner allows it, keep user agent and custom headers unchanged while varying the Referer.
  3. Capture status and redirects. Record the response status and each redirect destination rather than relying only on the final URL.
  4. Inspect the rendered result. Compare the final page content, not just the initial response or a scanner’s summary label.
  5. Interpret narrowly. A difference shows that the tested request conditions led to different outcomes. It does not, without more evidence, establish the site’s intent or what all visitors see.

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