> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.extole.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Why Your Site Requests a Zone Named blank

> Why the Extole tag on your site can request a zone called blank after a share link click, how the tag reads Extole parameters from the page URL, and why the request renders nothing on purpose.

# Overview

Your site's network log shows a request from the Extole tag for a zone named `blank`. No campaign
publishes a zone with that name, your integration never asks for it, and nothing renders from it.

This is not a broken tag and not a missing campaign. The request is the Extole tag doing what the
page URL told it to do, and the URL was written by a share link redirect. This page explains how
the tag reads that URL, where the name `blank` comes from, and why the request still matters.

## How the Tag Reads Parameters from the Page URL

When the core tag loads, it reads the page's query string. Every parameter whose name starts with
`extole_` is meant for Extole, and the tag handles three shapes:

* `extole_zone_name=<name>` asks the tag to request that zone on page load, the same way a
  `createZone` call on the page would. If the URL carries this parameter, the tag requests the zone
  whether or not your page has a placement for it.
* `extole_zone_<key>=<value>` becomes data named `<key>` on that zone request. For example,
  `extole_zone_shareable_code=ABC123` reaches the zone as `shareable_code`.
* Any other `extole_<key>=<value>` is passed to Extole as data named `<key>`. For example,
  `extole_share_channel=SHARE_LINK` reaches Extole as `share_channel`.

Parameters that do not start with `extole_` are left alone. Your own UTM parameters and any other
query string your page uses are not sent to Extole.

<Info>
  A zone request that appears on a page with no placement for it is almost always this mechanism.
  Read the page URL for `extole_zone_name` before looking for a `createZone` call in your code. The
  name in the URL was put there by whatever redirected the visitor to the page.
</Info>

## Where the Redirect Comes From

A share link opens on your program domain first. Extole records the click there, then redirects the
friend to the address in your campaign's **Destination for Clicks on Share Links** setting. The
redirect appends the parameters Extole needs to recognize the referral on the destination page:

* `extole_zone_advocate_code`, the advocate whose link was clicked.
* `extole_zone_share_channel`, the channel the share was made on.
* `extole_zone_name`, the zone the destination page is asked to request, when the campaign is
  configured to name one.
* Your UTM parameters, and anything you added to the destination address's own query string.

What the destination setting holds decides whether a redirect happens at all:

* A bare zone name, letters, digits and underscores only, such as `friend_landing_experience_microsite`,
  renders that experience on the program domain without redirecting to your site.
* Anything else, including a full address, a path, or a value with a query string, redirects the
  friend to that address with the parameters above appended.

See [Share Link and Promote Link Behavior](/guides/programs-and-campaigns/managing-campaigns/share-link-and-promote-link-behavior)
for where the destination is set in My Extole.

## Why the Zone Is Named blank

Some campaign themes carry a **Show Extole Landing Creative** setting on the share destination. When
it is on, the redirect names the friend landing zone in `extole_zone_name`, and the friend landing
experience opens on your page. When it is off, the redirect still has to carry the referral to your
page, so it names a zone called `blank` instead.

`blank` is not a reserved name and no campaign serves it. The tag requests it, no campaign has a
candidate for it, and the response is empty. That is the intended result: the request exists to
deliver the advocate code, the share channel and the click to Extole on your page, so the visitor is
recognized as a referred friend. Nothing has to render for that to happen.

Campaigns built on the current share destination component do not use `blank`. They either render
the experience in place or name your friend landing zone directly.

<Note>
  An empty zone response is not an error, so it does not appear in Extole's error reporting or in
  your browser's console as a failure. If you are reconstructing what a share link click recorded,
  read the data on the request itself. Each `extole_zone_` and `extole_` parameter on the page URL
  maps to one field on it.
</Note>

## What to Check

1. Read the page URL in the network log, not only the zone request. If it carries
   `extole_zone_name=blank`, the request came from a share link redirect and is working as designed.
2. Confirm which share destination your campaign uses. If it has a **Show Extole Landing Creative**
   setting that is off, `blank` is expected. If you want the friend landing experience to open on the
   page, turn the setting on and publish.
3. If the friend landing experience should open and does not, check that the page loads the core
   tag and that a live campaign publishes the zone named in the URL. A zone with no live campaign
   returns the same empty response as `blank` does.

## Related

* [Share Link and Promote Link Behavior](/guides/programs-and-campaigns/managing-campaigns/share-link-and-promote-link-behavior)
  covers setting the share destination.
* [Deep Link Integrations](/technical/platform-integrations/mobile-sdks/deep-link-integrations)
  covers what the same redirect carries into a mobile app install.


## Related topics

- [Why a CTA Opens a Different Program's Share Experience](/technical/troubleshooting/why-a-cta-opens-a-different-programs-share-experience.md)
- [Render a named zone](/api-reference/content/render-a-named-zone.md)
- [Why You Should Pop-up Your Advocate Share Experience](/guides/strategy-and-best-practices/campaign-optimization/why-you-should-pop-up-your-advocate-share-experience.md)
- [Quick Troubleshooting Guide](/guides/notifications-and-troubleshooting/troubleshooting/quick-troubleshooting-guide.md)
- [Render a named zone for web-page embedding](/api-reference/content/render-a-named-zone-for-web-page-embedding.md)
