Traffic Source Parameters

There are common scenarios where it is useful for your Traffic Source to send you information in each click. This is achieved through the querystring (i.e that part of the Campaign URL after the ? character). The most common things that they will include:

  • Unique Click Identifier - i.e a paramter value that uniquely identifies the click on the Traffic Source's system. The Traffic Source might call this parameter 'clickid' or 'ref' or any number of things. This is an important parameter when we want to notify the Traffic Source of a conversion because, very likely, they will need to know this value for each conversion.

  • Other information that describes the traffic, for example: sub affiliate or publisher identifier. They might call this subidor sub_id or pub or pubid etc

We call this information 'Traffic Source Parameters' or simply 'Source Parameters'

Source Parameters format

https://CAMPAIGN_LINK/?source_parameters_will_go_here

The source parameters are just querystring parameters, made up of name=value pairs separated by &. The parameter nameis chosen by you (but we will provide suggestions) but thevaluewill be set by the traffic source (apart from any fixed parameter values that you might wish to add, e.g source=affiliate1)

Example

For example, if the traffic source needs to pass their unique click id to Trackhouse so that they can they can receive this unique value back in a conversion notification, then we can achieve this with something like:

externalid = REPLACE_WITH_CLICK_ID;
  • externalid is chosen here as the parameter name to indicate the external party's unique identifier for the click. We can call this anything, e.g tsUniqueId (traffic source unique id) or clickid or ref. It can be anything but we suggest something meaningful and consistent. The value of this parameter can be passed back to the traffic source in a conversion notification by declaring it in the Traffic Source's Notification Url, in token format (more on this below).
  • REPLACE_WITH_CLICK_ID - this is the parameter value that the traffic source will set on each click. For convenience, it is best to use the traffic source's token format (if available) for this value (more on this below).

Traffic source token format

Generally, a traffic source's system will have a certain token format. This token format can be incorporated into the source parameter values so that no changes need to be made to the traffic source's campaing link. Example: You could set the source parameters for ALL traffic sources by default to something like:

externalid=REPLACE_WITH_CLICK_ID&subid=REPLACE_WITH_PUBLISHERID

The traffic source (affiliate) will likely understand that they need to replace REPLACE_WITH_CLICK_ID and REPLACE_WITH_PUBLISHERID with appropriate values for each click and they will modify this before using the link.

However, we can make things easier for everyone by asking the Traffic Source the following question:

What is your system's token format and what is your token for click id (unique reference) and subid/publisherid or equivalent? Examples: {clickid} #clickid# [clickid] {reqid} {{reqid}} {subid} {pubid} #publisher# ... Anything like this?

Or if your source is an affiliate network platform, then they will provide information on their tokens for click id etc.

Then, we set the source parameters appropriately.

Example

externalid=#click_id#&subid=#subid#. Campaign links for this traffic source will now be:

https://CAMPAIGN_LINK/?externalid=#click_id#&subid=#subid#

The traffic source's system will replace the tokens on each click, for example:

https://CAMPAIGN_LINK/?externalid=83726136&subid=55

Using these Traffic Source values

To pass these values on in either the destination link URL (i.e the landing page) or to pass them back to the Traffic Source in a conversion notification, we will need to reference the parameter name as a token (Trackhouse will recognise the token format and replace the token with the value of that parameter). More details on this below..

Passing Traffic Source values to the Destination Link

In the Destination Link URL, add the appropriate parameter name (from the campaign link) in token format into the appropriate parameter value.

From above Example:

https://CAMPAIGN_LINK/?externalid=83726136&subid=55
https://Destination.Link.Url/offer1?ts_sub={subid}

In this example, {subid} is replaced by the value of subid in the campaign link i.e 55

https://offers.destinationlink.com/offer1?ts_sub=55

Conversion Notifications to Traffic Source

In the Traffic Source's Notification URL, add the appropriate parameter name (from the campaign link) in token format into the appropriate parameter value.

From above Example:

https://CAMPAIGN_LINK/?externalid=83726136&subid=55

Notification URL:

https://callback.trafficsource.com?click_id={externalid}

In this example, {externalid} is replaced by the value of externalid in the campaign link. Effectively, we are notifying the traffic source of a conversion with their unique click id reference:

https://callback.trafficsource.com?click_id=83726136

Note: Trackhouse's token format uses braces or 'curly brackets' {}

A traffic source may have a different token format using hashes #likethis# or double braces {{like_this}} or square brackets [likethis]. The 'Source Parameters' is the only place in Trackhouse that you will use Traffic Source tokens

Note:

  • Tokens in the Notification URL will be replaced as described above from the campaign url parameters. However, they can also be replaced by corresponding parameters in the destination conversion callback (destination → trackhouse)
  • Priority (in the case of conflicts) is given to the campaign parameter. To avoid this (i.e to choose a callback parameter over a click parameter of the same name) you can prefix the token as follows: {callback_parameterName}