What is ClickID?
Pixels fired in the browser to track post-click actions may not always fire if they are blocked by privacy software or not loaded before the visitor leaves the page. To address that, many companies are now using S2S pixels. That is short for server-to-server pixels. For this method to be accurate, however, both servers need to share a common unique ID for each visitor and that is where ClickID comes into play.
Generating a ClickID
Suppose that your advertiser is working with AppsFlyer to track installations of their mobile apps that are referred by ads running on your site.
Your advertiser is going to provide you with a click tracking link for their banner that looks like the following:
http://app.appsflyer.com/appid?pid=advertpro&c=campaign&clickid={clickid}
The part we are interested in here is the {clickid} placeholder, which we want to replace with the corresponding AdvertServe macro:
http://app.appsflyer.com/appid?pid=advertpro&c=campaign&clickid=%%CLICKID%%
As you can see, we have replaced the {clickid} placeholder with our actual %%CLICKID%% macro so that when this ad is served it will get replaced with a unique ID value.
Generating the S2S Pixel
Generating the S2S pixel with the AdvertServe code wizard could not be easier.
- Go to the Code Wizard
- Click on Action Code in the navigation menu on the left side of the screen.
- Then click on the S2S link underneath that sub menu.
- You will be presented with the S2S pixel, which already has a [clickid] placeholder so it can be provided directly to AppsFlyer without the need for any further modifications.
It really is that simple folks. The process is the same when dealing with other systems that your advertisers might be using. You insert our %%CLICKID%% macro in their redirect where they have designated it needs to be placed and then you provide them with your S2S pixel. The rest is left up to server-side magic.
Final Thoughts
Not using S2S pixels to track actions yet? Give it a try, especially if you have been dealing with large conversion discrepancies with your advertisers. If you happen to be using our old S2S pixel you may continue doing so, but for new integrations consider using ClickID since it is much simpler to set up.
Mike Cherichetti
