Referser

Referser is not a widely recognized technical term on its own. In many contexts it is used as a misspelling or variant of referer, a concept most often encountered in web technologies. The closest canonical term is the HTTP header named Referer, a historical misspelling retained in the standard.

In web browsing, a referrer (often called the referer in technical discussions) refers to the URL of the page that linked to the current resource. When a user agent requests a resource, it usually sends this information in the Referer header to the destination server. The header can include the full URL, including path and query parameters, though privacy settings and policy rules may reduce or omit details.

Use cases for referrer information include analytics and referral tracking, helping sites understand where their traffic comes from. It can also influence server-side decisions about access control, content delivery, or hotlink protection. Some services use the referrer to tailor responses or to apply security checks based on the origin of the request.

Privacy and policy considerations are central to referrer handling. Exposing full URLs can leak sensitive information, so many sites implement Referrer-Policy directives to limit what is sent. Common values include no-referrer, origin, origin-when-cross-origin, same-origin, and strict-origin-when-cross-origin. Browsers may also strip referrer data when navigating from secure (https) to less secure (http) contexts.

If you encounter the term "referser" outside of historical or niche contexts, it is usually a misspelling of "referrer" or "referer." The article above describes the concept as it appears in web standards and practice.