Cross-network attribution

[Consistent-Pause7153]

Been struggling with cross-network attribution for a while. What's everyone using beyond just relying on the network's own dashboard? Curious if there are tools people actually trust or if it's always a bit of a black box.

 

[Graybeard]

Add a `token` to the URL used in tracker or learn to read and sort your server logs.

Example: n=102 <network=102>&o=name<offer=name keyword>

Then you have a way to sort the networks and offers.

AI:

 

[Graybeard]

I’ve always relied on my own server logs for attribution—both click-in and click-out—because those are the only counts I fully control. Everything else is third-party data.

For conversions (actual sales / CPA events), I handle it by passing a unique ID. When I redirect traffic from my server, I attach a unique identifier to each click.

If a conversion happens, that same ID is captured at the offer’s point of sale and passed back. That lets me match it directly to my logs and trace the exact source of the referral.

 

[Graybeard]

1. Expect some loss due to blockers/ITP/app webviews, so having an “unknown” bucket is normal even with perfect tracking.

• I always found that DSP/RTB type traffic overcounted ~10% and I lost another ~5% between the initial entry and being JavaScript redirected to my Bridge Page; then ~20% to ~60% of the filtered traffic clicked-out to the offer.
• The other scenario was a pass-through direct redirect to the offer, without a Bridge Page. Then ~80% to ~90% of the filtered traffic was redirected to the offer.
• Fair to say I haven't done this for some years now, estimations are IIRC.

2. It helps to standardize the ID format early (click_id + optional campaign/source) so you can debug quickly in logs.

• This is IP based, so it has some limitations, but when it's added along with the networkID, campaign and the click ID in a log, you can sort out who did what pretty much (old php code I used).

if (preg_match('/:/', $ipV6)){
$ipV6=str_replace(":","",$ipV6);

//echo $ip  ."<p>\n";
//$str = "a b c d e f";
$str = $ipV6;
$replacements = [
    "a" => "1",
    "b" => "2",
    "c" => "3",
    "d" => "4",
    "e" => "5",
    "f" => "6"
];

$ip_a = strtr($str, $replacements);
elseif  (!preg_match('/:/', $ip)){

    $ip =  substr($ip,0, 5);
    $seed= 5855555570;
    $cid=ceil($seed/$ip);
        $cid =  substr($cid,0, 7);
    }