Pixel Post is a method of passing tracking information to LinkTrust via a server call, GET, Post, or in an image tag within HTML. This method eliminates the need for LinkTrust to track based upon cookies.
LinkTrust offers two pixel post types: Click ID and Affiliate ID. This page will help you to understand how to formulate either of these URLs to track based on a server side post back.
Click ID Post Back:
This can be accomplished by executing the pixel URL with the Click ID appended. This method is considered very secure because a transaction can be tracked by using a unique Click ID. In addition, a Click ID can only be used once and within the time frame of the configured Cookie Life. This fact helps to prevent fraud. In order to use a Click ID Pixel Post, you must pass the system generated Click ID to the merchant on the Landing Page URL. The Click ID is appended to the Landing Page URL via a Landing Page Token.
Sample: http://[Your Tracking URL]/pixel.track?ClickID=04_835477_fb93f424-788d-4c48-bfb1-98516f855839
When using the Click ID Pixel Post, any name value pairs added to the post back URL will be captured and stored in LinkTrust. You can view this captured data in the Transaction Details for the corresponding campaign.
Sample: http://[Your Tracking URL]/pixel.track?ClickID=04_835477_fb93f424-788d-4c48-bfb1-98516f855839&MerchantReferenceID=Value&Anything=Anything
All Click ID Pixel Posts will show "SecurePixelPost" in the Conversion Type column of the transaction details.
Affiliate ID Post Back:
This can be accomplished by executing the pixel URL with the campaign ID (CID) and affiliate ID (AFID) appended. This method is not considered secure because a transaction can be generated by using the campaign ID (CID) and affiliate ID (AFID). Due to this fact, the Affiliate ID Pixel Post method can be prone to fraud. We recommend securing the server's IP address by white listing it in LinkTrust. (See below for details.)
Sample: http://[Your Tracking URL]/pixel.track?CID=100000&AFID=1234
When using the Affiliate ID Pixel Post, any name value pairs added to the post back URL will be captured and stored in LinkTrust. You can view this captured data in the Transaction Details for the corresponding campaign.
Sample: http://[Your Tracking URL]/pixel.track?CID=100000&AFID=1234&MerchantReferenceID=Value&Anything=Anything
All Affiliate ID Pixel Posts will show "UnsecurePixelPost" in the Conversion Type column of the transaction details.
White Listing Server IPs
When using either of these post back methods, you may secure where these post backs are fired from by white listing the IP address of the server firing the URL. This can be done on the Domains/IP Page.
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Need help with this feature or have questions? You can contact our support team at support@linktrust.com