Server-side tracking with Conversions APIs

Conversions reach GoTrack server to server, and GoTrack sends them on to Meta, TikTok, Google and the other platforms you buy from through their own APIs. No pixel in the visitor’s browser has to fire for it to work.

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  • S2S postbacks in
  • Conversions APIs out
  • 7 ad platforms + any URL
  • A log of every send

Why server-side tracking

A tracking pixel runs in the visitor’s browser. Ad blockers, strict privacy modes and script errors all stop it silently, and you never find out how many conversions went missing. With server-side tracking the conversion travels from server to server: the affiliate network tells GoTrack, and GoTrack tells the ad platform. The browser is no longer in the middle.

It matters for more than your own numbers. Ad platforms optimise their delivery on the conversions they are told about, so every conversion that reaches them helps the algorithm find buyers instead of clickers.

How a conversion travels

  1. A visitor clicks your ad. The ad platform adds its own click ID (fbclid, gclid, ttclid, msclkid…) and your tracking link stores it with the click.
  2. The visitor converts at the offer, and the affiliate network calls your postback URL with your click ID.
  3. GoTrack books the conversion against the click, its source and its placement.
  4. The traffic source decides where the conversion goes next: GoTrack sends it to that platform’s API with the platform’s own click ID, the event name, the value and the currency.
  5. Every send is logged as OK or Failed, and each conversion lists the outbound postbacks it fired.

Where conversions can go

Per traffic source you add one row per conversion type, so you choose exactly which events each platform learns about. Usually that is the one you are paid for.

  • Meta Conversions API: pixel ID, access token and event name.
  • TikTok Events API: pixel code, access token and event name.
  • Snapchat and Pinterest Conversions API: pixel or ad account ID, access token and event name.
  • Microsoft Advertising: an offline conversion upload to your conversion goal.
  • LinkedIn Conversions API: a conversion rule with OAuth credentials.
  • Google Enhanced Conversions: an offline click conversion uploaded to your Google Ads conversion action.
  • Any URL: a plain server-to-server postback with macros, optionally passing on a percentage of the payout.

What Meta receives

For every conversion of the letter you picked, GoTrack sends Meta one server event with the event name (for example Lead or Purchase), the time, action_source = website, the Meta click ID built from the fbclid Meta adds to every click on your ad, and the conversion’s value and currency. Meta adds fbclid by itself, so there is nothing to add to your ad; just send Meta traffic straight to the tracking link and don’t strip URL parameters in a redirect before it.

Set it up for Meta in five steps

  1. Make sure conversions already arrive by postback from your affiliate network.
  2. In Meta Events Manager, copy your pixel ID and generate a Conversions API access token.
  3. Run your Facebook traffic on a tracking link whose source uses the Facebook / Meta Ads template.
  4. Edit that source, switch on conversion forwarding and add a row per conversion type: for example A as Lead and B as Purchase.
  5. After the next conversion, check the Log for OK. The event shows under your pixel in Events Manager, usually within an hour.

More in the manual

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

Frequently asked questions

What is server-side tracking?

Tracking where conversions are reported from server to server instead of by a pixel in the visitor’s browser. The affiliate network posts the conversion to GoTrack, and GoTrack forwards it to the ad platform through its API.

Which ad platforms can receive my conversions?

Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn and Google (Enhanced Conversions), plus any platform that accepts a server-to-server postback URL.

Why do my events reach Meta but never match a click?

The click arrived without fbclid, because the traffic did not come from a Meta ad or a redirect stripped the parameter. GoTrack then sends the link’s own click ID, which Meta cannot match. Send Meta traffic straight to the tracking link.

How do I know a conversion was sent?

The Log on the Postbacks page shows every send as OK or Failed, and on the Conversions page each conversion lists the outbound postbacks it fired, with the result.

What happens when an access token expires?

The sends for that destination show as Failed in the Log. Generate a new token at the platform and paste it into the conversion row of the source.

Related

Questions about your setup? Talk with our team.