Postback tracking: every conversion matched to its click

Q: What if my network cannot send server-to-server postbacks?

Use a conversion snippet instead: a 1x1 image pixel, a 0x0 iframe, a JavaScript beacon or a Google Tag Manager tag. They report to the same endpoint, but they run in the browser, so ad blockers can stop some of them.

GoTrack receives server-to-server postbacks from your affiliate networks, books each conversion against the click that caused it, and sends it on to the ad platform you bought the traffic from.

What postback tracking is

A postback is a call from one server to another. When a visitor clicks your tracking link, GoTrack records the click and gives it a click ID, which travels on to the offer. When the visitor signs up or buys, the affiliate network calls your postback URL with that click ID, and GoTrack books the conversion against the exact click, offer, traffic source and placement.

Nothing has to run in the visitor’s browser, so ad blockers, privacy modes and script errors cannot drop the conversion. That is why server-to-server postbacks come first in GoTrack, and browser snippets are only the fallback.

Postback URLs in each network’s own format

Add an affiliate network from one of the 70+ templates and GoTrack writes its postback URL in that network’s macro syntax: single braces, dollar braces or whatever the network uses. You copy it into the network’s postback setting, one URL per conversion type if the network fires separate events. For a network without a template you pick Direct / generic and replace two macro names. A URL looks like this:

https://<your tracking domain>/conversion.go?cid={clickid}&amount={payout}&conv_type=A&currency=USD&pid=12345

cid: your click ID, echoed back by the network. The only parameter that is always needed.
amount and currency: the payout, so revenue and ROI are real numbers, not just counts.
conv_type: the conversion type, a letter from A to Z.
txid, date and event_name: the network’s transaction ID, a back-dated conversion and a free-text label.

Up to 26 conversion types

Every letter from A to Z can be its own event. Label the ones you use, for example A = Signup and B = Sale, and each labelled letter gets its own postback URL. Two presets fill the common sets into empty letters only: Affiliate (Signup, Sale, Lead, Install, Subscription, Refund) and iGaming (Registration, FTD, Deposit, Bet, NGR, Chargeback). Keep the labels the same across offers and every report reads the same way.

Send each conversion back to where you bought the click

Ad platforms optimise on the conversions they hear about. Per traffic source and per conversion type, GoTrack forwards the conversion as a plain server-to-server URL with macros such as {clickid}, {earned} and {conv_type}, or straight into a Conversions API: Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn and Google Enhanced Conversions. Server-side tracking explains how that works.

When a partner cannot fire server-to-server at all, the Conversion snippets page builds a 1×1 image pixel, a 0x0 iframe, a JavaScript beacon or a Google Tag Manager tag that reports to the same conversion endpoint.

Test it, and see why a postback failed

The callback test fires a real request at a postback URL and shows the HTTP status before live traffic depends on it. After that, three places keep you informed:

Log: every outbound call GoTrack fired, with OK or Failed.
Rejected: every incoming postback that was not booked, with the reason (click not found, no click ID, duplicate transaction ID…) and the URL exactly as the network sent it. A macro the network did not fill shows up here at once.
Hold suspicious conversions: conversions from one IP converting many times, a known bot IP or datacenter and VPN traffic wait for you to accept or reject them before they count.

Set it up in five steps

Add the affiliate network under Affiliate Networks and pick its template.
Label your conversion types on the Postbacks page.
Build your tracking link with the click ID token on.
Copy the postback URL for each conversion type into the network’s postback setting.
Fire a test postback and check that it appears under Conversions.

More in the manual

Every screen and setting is described step by step in the GoTrack manual:

Frequently asked questions

What is a postback URL?

The URL an affiliate network calls when a conversion happens. It carries your click ID, so the conversion can be matched to the click, and optionally the payout, currency, conversion type and the network’s transaction ID.

Why does a conversion show 0 revenue?

The postback arrived without an amount, or with 0.00. Put the network’s payout macro in the amount parameter. Some offers pay nothing for a free registration on purpose, so check the conversion type first.

How do I stop a conversion from being counted twice?

Pass the network’s transaction ID as txid. With duplicate-conversion protection on for your account, a postback that repeats a transaction ID is rejected as a duplicate. Ask your account manager to switch it on.

What if my network cannot send server-to-server postbacks?

Use a conversion snippet instead: a 1×1 image pixel, a 0x0 iframe, a JavaScript beacon or a Google Tag Manager tag. They report to the same endpoint, but they run in the browser, so ad blockers can stop some of them.

Can the status parameter exclude rejected conversions?

Not yet. GoTrack accepts a status in the postback but does not use it: every conversion that arrives counts. To keep a conversion out, hold suspicious conversions for review and reject it there.

Questions about your setup? Talk with our team.