What is Postback URL

Postbacks allow for communication between different platforms: trackers and ad networks, affiliate networks with ad trackers. They do require a postback firing mechanism to be implemented on the source side. That’s why they are not widely used by solo marketers or offer owners. There are, however, ways fors setting up a postback-firing solution without the need of a developer.

Names

Postback is the term used in a concrete industry but the same technology is often referred to sa:

• Webhook
• Callback URL
• Conversion URL
• Endpoint URL

How it works

The postback is similar to API requests but much simpler. The postback request can triggered either automatically with predefined triggers or manually by simply putting it into web browser’s address bar.

Postback can pass certain information using parameters. A parameter is a part of a postback request and consists of a parameter_name={token} pair, where:

• A parameter name describes the value passed to the target platform. This can be click ID, payout, payout currency, transaction ID, conversion type, etc.
• A token is a replaceable placeholder that will be switched to a concrete value. So if the whole parameter for passing payout looks like this:

payout={payout}

Upon activation, the token is replaced with a payout value:

payout=0.5

Parameters in postback URL

The most important parameter is the click ID value. It is used to uniquely identify a concrete click in the system. The click ID is assigned by ad networks and ad trackers separately. It is first passed to an offer (or a platform that hosts offers like an affiliate network) in an offer URL an then it should be passed back to validate a conversion.

Most systems reject conversions without a valid click ID to keep data consistent. In some scenarios, where a click ID might not be available (for example, when you track conversions in apps on iOS 14.5 and above devices and users have opted out from tracking), conversions without click IDs are allowed. To validate a conversion, a different value is used – for example, a campaign ID.

Other parameters that can be passed in a postback URL are:

• Payout – passes information about a payout value
• Payout currency – passes information about the currency of a payout
• Transaction ID – passes a unique identifier of each transaction. This is useful when you have multiple conversions coming from a single click ID (for example, when the same person makes several purchases). Transaction ID allows to track subsequent conversions (called ‘upsells’).
• Conversion type – passes information that distinguishes between various conversion tape. This is useful if an advertiser or marketer values some conversion types more than others (for example, a purchase within an app and the installation of the said app.

Postbacks are a reliable way to pass conversion data but the alternative – conversion pixels, are also a viable option.