Traffic Source Postback URLs

• Some Traffic Sources offer the option to pass back conversion details to their system using a Postback URL (also called a Server-2-Server pixel or S2S pixel) in order to see details about costs and conversions in their interface.

  • This is possible with CPV Lab by defining the Traffic Source Postback URL as an Additional Pixel in the campaign setup page.

• Because you are already defining the CPV Lab Pro Tracking Pixel or Postback URL at your Affiliate Network, it is not possible to enter the Traffic Source Postback URL at the Affiliate Network level.

  • That’s why you need to use the Additional Pixel option from the campaign setup page.

The Traffic Source Postback URL can contain 2 parts that should be replaced with the dedicated macros from CPV Lab Pro:

• 1. The unique code for the converting visitor – needs to be replaced by the {!tscode!} macro.
• 2. The optional revenue (payout) – needs to be replaced by the {!revenue!} macro.

Flow between CPV Lab Pro and the Traffic Source

The flow will be like this:

• Traffic Source passes a unique code for each visitor as a parameter in the Campaign URL – this is the “External ID Token” defined in the campaign setup page.
• CPV Lab Pro captures this unique code and stores it in the database
• An additional Pixel is defined in the campaign setup page with the Traffic Source Postback URL (with the {!tscode!} macro in the place of the unique code).
• When a conversion happens, the Affiliate Network will fire the CPV Lab Pro Tracking Pixel or the CPV Lab Pro Postback URL and a conversion will be marked in CPV Lab Pro.
• CPV Lab Pro (opens new window) will fire the Additional Pixel (Traffic Source Postback URL) and will replace the {!tscode!} part with the actual unique code for the visitor that converted.
• The Traffic Source receives the Postback URL call and they mark the conversion in their system

TIP

NOTE: The Traffic Sources imported in CPV Lab Pro from the Catalog in the Traffic Sources page come with the Postback URL already defined and with the correct macros included.

All you need to do when you setup your campaign with such a Traffic Source is:

• to check the option to use this Postback URL
• and to enter your actual accountID in the URL (in place of 123456):

Example:

• If using PopCash as a Traffic Source, then the Traffic Source Postback URL would be like this (make sure that you use your PopCash accountID provided by them in place of 123456):

https://ct.popcash.net/click?aid=123456&clickid={!tscode!}&payout={!revenue!}

• When a conversion happens in your campaign, CPV Lab will automatically replace {!tscode!} with the actual unique ID for the visitor and {!revenue!} with the actual amount of the conversion, then fire the Traffic Source Postback URL.
• Let’s say that your visitor had the unique code 'abcdefgh' and that the revenue was '$20'.
  • Then CPV Lab will fire the above Postback URL as:

https://ct.popcash.net/click?aid=123456&clickid=abcdefgh&payout=20

• You will then see the $20 conversion appearing both in CPV Lab Pro and PopCash reports.

Pass Subscribers to the traffic source as a different event

You can now send a second event (goal) to your traffic source so the ad network can optimize for two goals instead of one.

This is useful when you want the network to start optimizing before the final conversion (sale) happens — for example by using subscriber opt-ins, registrations, or checkout starts as a fast signal.

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Why use a second event (goal)?

• Faster optimization: the network can learn from early events (subscribers, registrations) instead of waiting for conversions.
• Better audiences: early events help build lookalike / optimized audiences sooner.
• Flexible: the second event can be any goal supported by the traffic source (subscriber, registration, initiate checkout, order page impression, etc.).

Examples of second events:

• Subscriber — user fills an opt-in form. If you have a lead capture campaign and an opt-in form in your page, you will pass the subscribers as soon as they fill the opt-in form
• Order form impression — visitor reaches the checkout. This event is provided by some affiliate networks (Clickbank, BuyGoods, MaxWeb and others) when visitors get to the checkout page .
• Registration — user registers an account (common in iGaming). Often used in iGaming campaigns together with the Depoit event.
• Initiate checkout — user starts checkout (e-commerce). Used in e-commerce stores to show when the checkout process started.

This works only for traffic sources that allow tracking of multiple goals (like Evadav for example).

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How it works (simple flow)

1. CPV Lab tracks two event types internally:
   • Subscribers — tracked via the subscribers Postback / Pixel (adsub.php)
   • Conversions — tracked via the main conversion Postback / Pixel (adclick.php)
2. You configure two postbacks/pixels in the affiliate network interface:
   • one postback/pixel for the subscriber/secondary goal
   • one postback/pixel for the main conversion
3. The affiliate network will fire the Postback URL or Pixel and CPV Lab will track the appropriate event, then forward it automatically.
4. You need to have the Traffic Source Postback URL for the Subscriber/Registration event defined in the campaign setup page, in the TS Subscribers section, with the corresponding traffic source goal parameter:

5. And you will also keep the main goal defined in the campaign setup page in the TS Conversions section:

6. When a visitor triggers the subscriber event (opt-in), CPV Lab fires the subscriber postback/pixel to the network.
7. When the visitor converts (sale), CPV Lab fires the conversion postback/pixel.
8. The traffic source receives both events and can optimize using both signals.

Diagram:
Visitor → LP opt-in → CPV Lab (adsub.php) → Traffic Source (Subscriber event)
Visitor → convert → CPV Lab (adclick.php) → Traffic Source (Conversion event)

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Setup steps (what to configure)

1. In the campaign setup page define the traffic source postbacks:
   • TS Subscribers — add the Postback URL / Pixel for the subscriber / second goal.
   • TS Conversions — keep the main conversion Postback URL / Pixel here (the main goal).
2. Test both events:
   • Trigger a test subscriber (fill the opt-in form) and confirm the network receives the subscriber event.
   • Trigger a test conversion and confirm the network receives the conversion event.