How does Commission Factory's tracking work?

This article details the different tracking methods Commission Factory use to record affiliate activity and explains the tracking hierarchy.

What does "tracking" refer to?

In affiliate marketing, tracking refers to the ability to capture and pass on information from a customer's interaction from a publisher's traffic source (impressions, clicks, views) through to the final purchase/action with an advertiser. Commission Factory provides the technology used to track and attribute sales to the correct affiliates, as well as facilitating the payment of affiliate commission on behalf of the advertiser.

What are the main methods Commission Factory uses to track affiliate activity?

Master Tag + Conversion Tag
Custom Tracking Domains
Server-to-Server (S2S)
Clickless Tracking

By using the above methods to track affiliate activity, Commission Factory can ensure affiliates that sales are attributed to them.

Master Tag + Conversion Tag

Master tags and conversion tags are pieces of JavaScript advertisers implement on the back end of their website to implement Commission Factory's tracking.

Custom Tracking Domains

Custom Tracking Domains use a subdomain of the advertiser's root domain, Commission Factory's servers are able to set 1st party cookies in the server response headers rather than relying on JavaScript running in the browser.

Server-to-Server (S2S)

Server-to-server Tracking is a method of tracking conversions whereby the advertiser’s servers directly communicate with Commission Factory’s servers to forward conversion data. S2S tracking is fully independent of browsers which differs from traditional tracking methods that are triggered in a user’s browser.

Clickless Tracking

A form of tracking that does not require a click to be the source of the transaction. Uses exclusive coupon code assigned to individual affiliate to match the transaction to the affiliate, instead of a click. This may also be known as cookieless tracking. Clickless Tracking codes allow influencers and content sites to be rewarded without interference from other affiliate types.