Frequently Asked Questions

1. First, grab an offer URL (you can get it from an affiliate network if you advertise third-party offers).
2. (Optionally) Add an affiliate network to organize offers coming from one network. If you add an affiliate network using one of many templates, you will see a list of parameters and tokens specific for this affiliate network and a preconfigured postback URL. When adding an offer, append the correct affiliate network tracking parameter for passing click ID and Voluum {clickid} token to the offer URL.

3. Add an offer to Voluum with the offer URL you got from affiliate network. If you have added an affiliate network from a template before, select it while creating an offer.

   The video below shows adding an offer and selecting an affiliate network that was previously added from a template. Thanks to this, you only need to copy and paste a tracking parameter for passing click ID that is displayed below offer URL.

   

   If you selected an affiliate network template, the postback URL will already be preconfigured. Copy the postback URL and paste it into the affiliate network global conversion tracking settings.

4. (Optionally) Add a lander to Voluum (if you want to use a lander between an ad and offer). Lander is a page that you need to set up on your own. Voluum doesn't develop nor hosts landing pages, you have to take care it on your own. Once you have a landing page set up and available on the Internet, you can add its URL to Voluum.

   

5. Add a traffic source. You can add one from a template or a custom one. If you go with the latter, get available tokens from the traffic source's documentation or panel, and place them to the traffic source setup in Voluum, matched with parameter names (you can use any parameter names).

   

6. Create a campaign. You now may choose which type of tracking method you can use for first transition (from an ad) and second transition (lander to offer if you have this kind of setup): select '302' or one of the redirect modes that hide referrer data ('meta-refresh' or 'double-meta refresh') for the redirect method or 'direct' method of tracking. You can mix tracking methods for both transitions. Note that the direct method of tracking will require modifications in landing page’s HTML (adding Lander tracking script), if lander is included in your campaign funnel, or in offer’s page HTML (adding Offer tracking script), if you link directly from an ad to an offer.

   If your traffic source setup includes passing cost data in a token (most templates do have this preconfigured), tracking cost will be set to 'Auto'. Otherwise select cost model and provide cost value.

   Once you save your campaign, you will get either a Campaign URL (for a redirect method) or Lander / Offer tracking URL (for a direct method), depending on your setup. No matter which link you get, submit it on your traffic source's side as a destination link for this campaign. With a direct method, you also need to implement a Direct tracking script on a lander or offer page (depending on the setup of your campaign - Landers & Offers or Offers only).

7. (Optionally) Lastly, submit the postback URL to the affiliate network for tracking conversions. If you have added an affiliate network from a template, the postback URL will already be preconfigured.

A lander, or a landing page, is the page that you put between an ad and your actual offer. You can use it to advertise your product more. Offer is where conversion occurs (purchase, app install, CC submit, etc.). This is how a path with a lander looks like:

In most cases, you have to set up and design your lander by yourself. You need to go to a web hosting service and pay for your web page to be visible on the web. Then you design this web page either by yourself, by a hired designer or using landing page builders. Optionally, you may also buy a unique domain for your page to make the page more relevant to what you are advertising.

A landing page is something you control, while offers (if you are not the offer owner) come from third-party providers such as affiliate networks. You can't influence the way they look or edit the page's code. This is important if you think about using direct method of tracking - a required method for Google and Facebook. Direct method of tracking requires editing the target page's code, so if you want to advertise on Google or Facebook, you will need to set up a landing page. This way you can use direct tracking for the first transition (from an ad to a landing page) and then use either method for the second transition (from a landing page to an offer. A Lander tracking script reports visits to a lander and clicks on the click URL, you don't need to put any script on the offer page if you use lander (and want to track conversions using postbacks).

Postback URL and Conversion tracking script/pixel are methods for tracking conversions.

A conversion is an event deemed valuable by the offer owner. These may be:

• Purchase
• App install
• Leadgen
• CC submit

Conversions happen on the offer side. Depending on where you got your offer from, you should choose an appropriate tracking method.

Click ID in conversion tracking

copied!

Conversion tracking is registering that a conversion occurred. To correctly register conversions without duplications and fake ones, all tracking systems, including Voluum, use a unique identifier to verify a conversion. In Voluum, this identifier is click ID.

Click ID is generated when a visitor visits an offer page (when no landing page is used in the funnel) or when they click a CTA button on a landing page (in a funnel with landing page). This identifier must be then passed in an offer URL using the {clickid} token paired with parameter name (you can get it from an affiliate network. It is also stored in a Voluum cookie).

When a conversion occurs, this click ID value is either passed back in a postback URL or fetched by the Conversion tracking script from the Voluum cookie and reported to Voluum. Voluum then tries to match the click ID value it got with the value originally assigned to a visitor. If those two matches, a conversion is recorded.

Tracking your own offers with Conversion tracking script

copied!

If you are the offer owner or run an agency that was hired to advertise an offer, you have control over the offer page. This means you can use a Conversion tracking script to track conversions.

To track conversions with a Conversion tracking script simply grab it from Voluum and implement it into the 'Thank You' page's code (a page that loads immediately after conversion). The conversion will be reported when this page loads. Because the click ID value is fetched from a cookie, you don't need to pass it in an offer URL but we recommend that you still should do it - the click ID in a parameter will serve as a backup.

Third-party cookies are sometimes blocked. To use this method without worrying about that, use the direct method of tracking and put the Offer tracking script on an offer page and the Conversion tracking script on a 'Thank You' page (plus a lander tracking script if you use a lander in a campaign funnel). Thanks to the direct tracking script, all cookies will be first party and therefore, not blocked.

Tracking third party offers with postback URL

copied!

Affiliate networks usually have a postback solution already set up. There is no need or even possibility to edit offers or 'Thank You' pages. To track conversions of third party offers, you must first make sure that you pass the click ID value in the offer URL. Then you need to grab a postback URL from Voluum and configure it to pass the click ID value back. If you have added an affiliate network from a template, the postback URL is already configured in an affiliate network element in Voluum. Submit it to affiliate network *usually you can do this in settings to track all conversions or specifically for each offer).

Which version should you choose?

copied!

Conversion tracking pixel is cookie-based, so it comes with several limitations that postbacks don't have (such as being blocked by privacy-oriented browsers that limit the use of cookies). Use postbacks whenever possible.

There is a lot of misunderstanding throughout the industry caused by the lack of universally accepted naming standards. Depending on the perspective, actions such as 'clicks' or 'visits' may mean different things for traffic sources, trackers, or affiliate networks.

In Voluum, we have the following naming convention:

• A visit is a click on an ad
• A click is an activation of a click URL on a landing page.

This means that clicks can only be tracked when you have a lander in your funnel. If you don't use landers, you won't track clicks, only visits and conversions.

If you want more information, please read the Voluum Glossary.

Cost is the amount of money you pay for traffic. There are different cost models that traffic sources use to settle down costs, including CPA (cost per action), CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per mille or thousand views). To have all data in one place, it is important to track costs. You can do this in three ways:

• Passing cost data in a token. This is the most popular way. In this scenario, a traffic source passes cost using tracking parameters that are attached to campaign URL. Each time someone clicks an ad, a traffic source will substitute cost token with actual value and Voluum will register that.

  • If you have added a traffic source in Voluum from a template, the cost tracking parameter will be included in the campaign URL, as long as a traffic source supports it. If that's the case, you will see cost option set to Auto in campaign setup.
  • For custom traffic sources, you need to get a cost token from a traffic source's documentation or panel and include it in the traffic source's setup in Voluum.
• Passing cost data using API integration. This is the most recommended way. Traffic sources that have been integrated with Voluum through the Automizer module can pass data using reliable API connection. Check the scope of the integration in the Voluum panel or in the documentation and if you see "Cost synchronization" mentioned you will know that data will be passed automatically. No additional configuration is needed, you don't have to worry about cost tokens or manually adding cost value. Cost synchronization works even if a traffic source doesn't support sending cost data in a token. Note that depending on the integrations, costs may be synchronized on different levels: campaigns, ad sets or individual placements. Plus, cost synchronization is not instantaneous - Automizer fetches cost data every 2 hours or so. You may choose to use cost estimations for the in-between periods.
• Manually setting cost value. If you can't use any of the above-mentioned options, you can set cost value manually in Voluum for a given cost model. To do so, select cost model during campaign setup and provide a value. This way, every time someone clicks your ad, the cost will be counted. Note that some cost models may require additional setup: you need to track impressions (ad views) to use CPM model (not all traffic sources support impression tracking) or track conversions and pass them to a traffic source to use the Revshare model.

You can find more information in the Tracking Costs article.

A path defines where a visitor is directed to after clicking the ad. You can set up paths when creating a campaign. A path contains one or more offers and optionally, one or more landers. One campaign may contain several paths: default and rule-based (that only get traffic from visitors that meets rule criteria).

Flows are simply saved paths that you can easily reuse in different campaigns to avoid the hassle of setting everything from zero. You can give unique names to flows but they work in the same way as a path set manually: they direct traffic to given destination(s). Flows are used to speed up the campaign creation process and their use is purely optional.

A traffic source is a platform where you get traffic from. Traffic will be directed towards a campaign URL. Along with visitors, traffic sources can pass additional data from their systems. There are two types of information:

• Click ID and cost - this information will be paired with Voluum's cost and externalid parameter names
• Other information such as placement ID or campaign name - this information will be paired with Voluum's custom variables var1 - var10

To pass this information, traffic sources use tokens that, when paired with parameters names, are attached to the campaign URL, read by Voluum and matched with either cost or click ID parameters, or custom variables.

Note that Voluum fetches much information on its own. This information includes visitor's country of origin or device type. You don't have to pass this information from a traffic source to have it available in Voluum. No configuration is needed.

If you have added a traffic source in Voluum from a template, you don't have to do anything: all tracking parameters are already configured and matched with custom variables.

If you are adding a custom traffic source, you have to follow these steps:

1. Get token names from a traffic source.
2. Start creating a custom traffic source in Voluum.
3. Provide token names in the 'Token' columns.
4. Provide any parameter names.
5. Provide meaningful names that will be used in your reports.

6. Note that traffic source's click ID and cost parameter names cannot be changed.

   

To view information passed in custom variables, you need to create a report for specific campaign and find a custom variable in the grouping drop-down menu.

Affiliate networks in Voluum serve two purposes: to organize offers coming from the same network and to store network's tokens and parameters names that are used to configure offer URLs and postbacks.

In order to track conversions, so one of the most important aspects of affiliate marketing, you need to pass Voluum's click ID value in the offer URL to affiliate network and then, after a successful conversion, receive it back in the postback URL.

Voluum offers a selection of affiliate network templates that you can use.

If you add an affiliate network from a template and then use this affiliate network when adding an offer in Voluum, you will see a correct tracking parameter for passing click ID displayed below the offer URL.

You then just need to add it to the URL after either the "?" (if no other tracking parameters have been added to the URL) or the "&" (if there are already some tracking parameters added to the URL) characters.

If you add a custom affiliate network, grab an affiliate network's parameter name dedicated for passing click ID value and pair it with Voluum click ID token {clickid}. Add such pair to the offer URL. Note that tokens need to be paired with a parameter name, they cannot appear alone in the URL.

Your offer URL should look like this:

Postback are available in Voluum. The general postback with no tracking parameters is as follows: your_tracking_domain.com/postback. You can grab it from Voluum's settings. To configure it manually, add a tracking parameter consisting of affiliate network's token that stores click ID value paired with Voluum's click ID parameter name cid.

If you have added an affiliate network from a template, you will see a postback URL already configured.

Click ID is a unique identifier of a visitor within a single session. This means that if a visitor switches devices, browsers or clears cookies, they will get a new click ID assigned to them.

Click IDs are used throughout the industry by all platforms: traffic sources, trackers and affiliate networks to correctly track the number of events, avoid duplicates and attribute conversions to original visits. Click IDs are essential for tracking conversions and attributing them to original visits.

Voluum click ID consists of 24 characters (numbers and letters combined). It's always starting with a lower case, usually it's a 'w' or a 'd'. It is assigned when a visitor clicks a click URL link on a landing page (if lander is used in the funnel) or when a visitor clicks an ad and activates a campaign URL (in campaigns without a lander). To track conversions, this value must be passed to affiliate network in a tracking parameter added to an offer URL and reported back in a postback or stored in a Voluum cookie and fetched by Conversion tracking pixel.

To view click IDs, you can either look at the general conversion report or open a report for a specific campaign and group by a click ID.

The traffic source's click ID on the other hand is stored within the Voluum's {externalid} token. If you want to pass conversions back to a traffic source, you need make sure that you pass the traffic source click ID value in the campaign URL in the first place and then pass it back in a traffic source postback URL.

To view external IDs, you can either look at the general conversion report or open a report for a specific campaign and group by external ID.

Note that you need to have your traffic source configured for passing external ID in order to see it in Voluum.

Voluum supports two methods of tracking event: redirect and direct. The first one is easier to implement and can use various features that affect visitor destination after clicking an ad (rule-based paths, weights, Traffic Distribution AI). It works by redirect a visitor through a tracking domain and then to a destination set in Voluum setup (lander or offer page). The redirect method is however not compliant with some major traffic sources, namely Facebook and Google.

Direct tracking, however, is compliant with Google, Facebook, Outbrain, Bing, is faster, doesn't have any redirect visible in web browser's address bar. It utilizes a script that makes a request to Voluum on page load (lander or offer page). The visitor goes directly to this page without a detour through a redirect domain. The downsides include more troublesome setup and no option to use various redirect modes, rule-based paths or Traffic Distribution AI.

To correctly set up direct tracking, you have to create a campaign in Voluum where you select 'direct' as a transition method. Then you have to implement a tracking script to the <head> section of the page. There are three scenarios:

• You use a landing page in your funnel, and you want to track conversions with a postback URL. In this scenario, you need to get the lander tracking URL and implement it in the body section of a landing page. The script will count both visits (clicks on a lander tracking URL) and clicks (clicks on the click URL on a landing page).

• You use a landing page in your funnel and want to track conversion using Conversion tracking pixel with first-party cookies. This setup is immune to any mechanisms that block third-party cookies. To set it up, you need to:

  1. Implement a lander tracking script on a landing page.
  2. Implement an offer tracking script on an offer page.
  3. Pass a click ID value in an offer URL using {clickid} token paired with any parameter name.
  4. Implement a Conversion tracking script on a 'Thank you' page.
• You link directly from an ad to an offer page. You need to implement an offer tracking script on an offer page. Note that when using direct tracking and a funnel with an offer only, you cannot use postbacks for conversion tracking. This is because a click ID value is generated after a page loads. You need to use a lander in between or develop a script that would fetch a click ID value from Voluum cookie or from response to the script.

Testing if a campaign was set up correctly enables avoiding losses due to sending paid traffic to a 404 page.

To test if event tracking works:

1. Get a campaign URL.
2. Paste it in your web browser's incognito mode and activate it.
3. See if you have reached your destination page and if the visit and/or click count in Voluum increased by 1.

This way you simulate real traffic and if your visit was registered properly in the first place.

You may test it on several web browsers just to be sure. If you advertise in a different country than where you are located, you can use VPN to and connect with a server in that location to test if everything works ok.

To test if conversion tracking works, go to your affiliate network and either look for a dedicated option that allows you to test postbacks or contact your account manager and ask them to send a test conversion. If the conversion count increases by 1, everything works ok.

Cookies are small text files that are created by a web browser to store information. 1st party cookies call the same domain as the one you are currently visiting, and 3rd party cookies call a different domain to the one you are visiting. 3rd party cookies are often blocked by various privacy-oriented browsers and will be completely blocked by Chrome in 2024. If you want reliability from your campaigns, you should set up your tracking in a way that uses 1st party cookies only.

Redirect method with 1st party cookies for tracking visits and clicks

copied!

You need to use the same domain for tracking and your pages. Because the two domains will be the same, web browsers will treat Voluum cookies as 1st party

1. Get a domain and create a subdomain for tracking.
2. Add this subdomain to Voluum as your custom domain and use this custom domain for tracking.
3. Use your domain (not subdomain) for your landing and/or offer pages.

Note that the redirect method uses cookies as backup only (for cases when referrer data is lost), so in most cases you are already protected from any problems with cookies when using this method.

Direct method with first party cookies for tracking visits and clicks.

copied!

Direct tracking method uses scripts that place both first- and third-party cookies on a visitor's computer. You only need to implement an appropriate tracking script on your destination page.

Cookie-safe Conversion tracking

copied!

There are two methods of tracking conversions: postback (which does not use cookies at all) and conversion tracking script. The latter one can use 1st party cookies set by the direct tracking scripts. So, to use a Conversion tracking pixel with 1st party cookies, you need to use a direct tracking method in the following way:

1. Put an Offer tracking script on an offer page and (optionally) a Lander tracking script on a landing page (if you use one). You can use more than one landing page and even put several landing pages in between, just remember to put the script on the first page a visitor reaches after clicking the ad and the page with CTA.
2. Pass a click ID value in an offer URL using any parameter name. In short, add the following tracking parameter to your offer URL in Voluum: clickid={clickid}.

3. Put a Conversion tracking script on a 'Thank You' page.

   

To maintain the consistency of your data, Voluum does not allow users to delete data or elements (offers, landers, etc.) that users have created.

You can fix discrepancies in data using the following mechanisms:

• Cost data can be adjusted using the Manual Cost Update feature.
• You can upload conversions that weren't registered by Voluum or correct your revenue using the Conversion Upload feature.

Campaign elements that are no longer in use can be archived.

Domain is the name of a web address. Domains are used by web pages to make them easily findable instead of relying on IP addresses. In Voluum, domains are used for tracking purposes. Depending on a tracking method, a visitor is either redirected through a tracking domain (redirect method) or a direct tracking script makes a request to a tracking domain with visit info (direct method).

Each Voluum user gets one unique dedicated domain. The account owner is the party solely responsible for maintaining the reputation of this domain (for example, a domain may get blocked if it is connected with illegal activity). A blocked dedicated domain makes tracking impossible. Voluum can provide additional dedicated domain to replace the blocked one for the additional cost of $50 per month per domain.

To protect user's dedicated domain, Voluum highly recommends using custom domains for tracking. They act as a shield and protect Voluum dedicated domains from getting banned. If a custom domain gets banned, it can be easily replaced with a new one and the cost of a custom domain is much lower than replacement domain from Voluum. Custom domains are not provided by Voluum. You can get them from popular domain providers, such as: Hostgator, Dynadot, Namecheap, Amazon, GoDaddy, or others.

If you use the same domain for tracking and hosting your pages, the cookies that Voluum will set will be treated as 1st party and therefore not blocked.

Custom domain setup

copied!

1. Get a custom domain from a domain provider. To get a general instructions on adding a custom domain, read the Adding a Custom Domain article.
2. (Optionally) Create a subdomain for tracking.
3. Create a CNAME record pointing to Voluum dedicated domain.
4. Add your domain in Voluum settings as a custom domain.

Voluum offers you many ways to customize your campaign flow. It employs two types of rules:

• Auto-rules. They are a part of the Automizer module and are used to launch automated actions, such as pausing a campaign, changing bids, whitelisting a placement or sending an alert, when set conditions are met. Most actions can only be launched with integrated traffic sources (apart from sending an alert, using lists or markers). To set them up:

  1. Go to the Automizer module and integrate a traffic source.

  2. Create a rule manually or use a template from the rule library.

     

• Rule-based paths. They are a part of a campaign flow and define how traffic should be directed. You set up a rule that defines traffic (for example, 'Android devices' or 'unique visits') and you outline a path this traffic should be directed to. This way you can show different landers or offers to different parts of your audience. Rule-based paths work with all traffic sources. To set them up:

  1. Create an advanced campaign in Voluum.
  2. Set up basic campaign settings and go to the DESTINATION tab.

  3. Create a rule-based path and define both components: a rule and a path.

     

Voluum allows you to use several methods of tracking multistep landing pages.

The best way is to use a direct method of tracking, which allows you to put as many pages as you want between a page that you reach after clicking the ad and a page that contains a click URL which redirects to an offer page. The details are described in the Track Multistep Funnels with a Direct Method article but the short version is that you need to put the Lander tracking script on both of the pages.

The workarounds with a redirect method are described in the Multi-Step Landers article but in short, they work like this:

• You use the multi-offer feature but instead of many offers, you direct from one lander to a second one using multi-offer click URL.
• You create two campaigns and put a campaign URL of a second campaign as an offer URL of the first campaign.
• You use rule-based paths and custom variables to create an internal redirect in the second campaign to the second lander.

You can track organic traffic with a direct method. For this, follow the steps below:

1. Create an 'Organic' traffic source from a template (or use the one you have already in your account) and create your campaign with this traffic source.
2. Implement organic tracking script (will be available after saving an organic campaign) on your landing page.
3. (Optionally) Create a separate campaign for paid traffic using the same landers and offers. You don't need to implement any additional tracking scripts apart from the organic one, Voluum can distinguish between organic and paid visitors (the latter ones come by activating lander tracking URL).

More details are available in the Track Organic Traffic article.

To upload conversions that weren't registered by Voluum, you can use the Conversion Upload feature. This allows you to register conversions with additional parameters, such as revenue and date. You just need to use proper syntax.

• For conversions with ClickID: 1. ClickID, 2. Payout, 3. Transaction ID, 4. Conversion Type, 5. Conversion Time, 6. leave empty, 7. Payout currency, 8. Param 1, 9. Param 2, 10, Param 3, 11. Param 4, 12. Param 5
• For conversions without ClickID: 1. leave empty, 2. Payout, 3. Transaction ID, 4. Conversion Type, 5. Conversion Time, 6. Campaign ID, 7. Payout currency, 8. Param 1, 9. Param 2, 10, Param 3, 11. Param 4, 12. Param 5, 13. Offer ID, 14. Lander ID, 15. Flow ID, 16. Path ID, 17. Custom Var 1, 18. Custom Var 2, 19. Custom Var 3, 20. Custom Var 4, 21. Custom Var 5, 22. Custom Var 6, 23. Custom Var 7, 24. Custom Var 8, 25. Custom Var 9, 26. Custom Var 10

If you don't want to upload a certain value, you can leave it blank but don't remove the commas. So the quickest way to upload a conversion and assign it to a specific date is to submit it in the following format: c384EFV6JHQODRN70575OK6U,,,,2021-12-03T10:15:30+01:00

In most cases, parameters that are configured in traffic source's setup in Voluum should be visible in a campaign URL. However, if you have enabled impression tracking, these parameters will NOT be present in the campaign URL but will be added to the Impression Pixel URL. Submit both URLs to the traffic source and Voluum will record all values passed in custom variables.

Note that the traffic source you have selected needs to support impression tracking, you can't track impressions on any traffic source.

Conversions may be delayed even up to several days after the original visit. There are two options (available in Voluum's general settings) of displaying conversions:

• Visit timestamp - this is the default option. Conversions are reported according to the time of the visit. Example: A visit occurred on 16th of July but a conversion was reported on 18th of July. With this option enabled, you will see this conversion counted across all reporting when the selected report time range includes 16th of July.

• Postback timestamp - conversions are reported according to when a conversion is registered for a user that visited your campaign. Example: A visit occurred on 16th of July but a conversion was reported on 18th of July. With this option enabled, you will see this conversion counted across all reporting when the selected report time range includes 18th of July.