Last year Google introduced a new optional feature that decreased the probability of bounce – Parallel Tracking. On October 30, 2018, Parallel Tracking will no longer stay optional but become a must for all accounts.
Parallel tracking is a new way of processing tracking requests. Before, customers used to go through one or more redirects before they saw the page. New technology processes all of them in the background, speeding up the transition, which can reduce lost visits. Consequently, this increases conversions and improves ad performance.
As Adwords claims all third-party services are to be compatible with parallel tracking, here is the guide on how to enable parallel tracking at Affise.
Note: In order to handle parallel tracking both affiliate and advertiser are to be compatible with parallel tracking on their sides.
In order to track unique click identifier from Google ads, adding of the {gclid} parameter to affiliate’s tracking URL is required. In order to track and collect {gclid} at Affise, affiliate’s tracking URL has to be set in the following way:
https://tracking_domain/click?pid=pid_id&offer_id=offer_id&ref_id={gclid}
where:
https://tracking_domain is your tracking domain
‘pid’, ‘offer_id’ – relevant params for affiliate id and offer id at Affise
ref_id – is Affise param to track and record Google ads click identifier
Affise provides your publishers with an opportunity to auto-generate Adwords tracking URL for their convenience. This option is available in partner’s panel > Offer > Tracking link section.
Once {gclid} is tracked via affiliate’s tracking URL and is recorded in Affise as ‘ref_id’, you’re supposed to receive it back through an advertiser’s postback the way below:
http://postback_domain/postback?ref_id=google_ads_clickid
or
http://postback_domain/postback?clickid={clickid}
In case Affise clickid value is already associated with {gclid} that’s ok not to receive both of them via advertiser’s postback. Affise will be able to fetch ‘gclid’ value through ‘clickid’ recorded and vice versa.
Pixel integration assumes common image, js or iframe integration when pixel is supposed to be set on advertiser’s Success page to retrieve {clickid} value for a conversion to be generated in Affise.
The step above will still be accurate for a pixel integration with an advertiser while requires an additional rule to be followed. In addition to a common pixel setup on Success page, the JS-script will have to be set on advertiser’s Target page as well. As a rule, Target page is the page which precedes Success page and is set in Affise offer tracking URL.
Target page JS-script is designed in the following way:
https://tracking_domain/gclid.js
and is allocated on your offer edit mode page.
Should you have any further questions or queries on parallel tracking in Affise – feel free to contact support@affise.com or visit Google Ads FAQ page directly for common questions.
Written by
Affise Academy
Affise is a partner marketing platform for brands, advertisers and agencies to scale via all possible performance marketing channels. Synergy of technology and our long standing experience lets you expand your partnerships, automate every step of the campaign lifecycle and make data-driven decisions.
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