How ad tracking in Attribuly works

By connecting your ad account with Attribuly, you unlock the power of tracking parameters that will be seamlessly applied to your active or pending review ads. This essential feature ensures that every purchase and conversion can be accurately attributed to the specific ads that your customers interacted with. Armed with this invaluable information, companies can uncover valuable insights into their customers' preferences and behaviors.

In the rare event that Attribuly is unable to track an ad, rest assured that the reports from the ad network will still be reflected in your analytics tools. This comprehensive view includes click, impression, and purchase data. If needed, you also have the option to visit the ad network and append a tracking template to these ads, ensuring no valuable data slips through the cracks.

Sync frequency

Different ad platforms have different synchronization frequencies for different plans.

	Free Plan	Starter	Pro	Enterprise
Meta ads/Google/ TikTok/Bing and other ad networks	30 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes	30 minutes, adjustable

Facebook ads

For new Facebook ads after connection, Attribuly automatically detects ads in active and review status and adds tracking parameters at regular intervals. Auto tracking can help merchants better analyze the ROAS of each ad.
For the ads that are already running, you need to add the following template to the Facebook ad URL parameters.

dm_cam={{campaign.id}}&dm_grp={{adset.id}}&dm_ad={{ad.id}}&dm_net=facebook

Using your existing UTMs

If your existing UTMs already contain the following parameters, you can skip adding the Attribuly template.

{{ad.id}}

If your existing UTMs contain the following parameters, Facebook traffic can still be identified in the Facebook channel, but ROAS calculation will be inaccurate.

utm_medium=paid/ppc/cpc and the referring domain is Facebook/Instagram

Set up guide

Connect your Facebook account.

Enable Auto tracking for your new ads' tracking template.

You can also toggle it on when you connect your Facebook account. If you have done that, you don't need to add tracking template manually for new ads.

Fix tracking warnings.

You will find some error messages if the Facebook "auto-tracking" feature doesn't work.

Warning	What the message means	Steps to resolve the error
The URL parameters don't meet Attribuly standard	URL parameters do not conform to the Attribuly specification: Any of utm_source=facebook utm_source=instagram {{site_source_name}} And {{ad.id}}	Click "Fix", Attribuly append tracking parameters to the ad automatically. However, doing so may have a 5% possibility to cause your Facebook ads to go back to the learning phase.
API limitations	All other errors. However, Facebook doesn't indicate any error message.	Click "Go to the platform" and add tracking parameters manually.

Follow the below video to add tracking parameters manually.

dm_cam={{campaign.id}}&dm_grp={{adset.id}}&dm_ad={{ad.id}}&dm_net=facebook

Learning Phase

Directly modifying Facebook ad parameters may cause the ad to re-enter the learning phase with a certain probability.

Reason: When editing Facebook ads, the default selection in the ad settings is "Create ad."

This method changes the post ID in the ad creative. As a result, after editing the tracking template below and clicking "Publish," Facebook treats it as publishing a new ad, causing the ad to re-enter the learning phase.

Solution (to bypass Facebook’s logic):

However, this method also has a chance of being considered by Facebook as modifying the "ad creative," and it cannot be guaranteed to avoid the issue entirely. For currently running ads, whether to proceed may depend on the actual situation.

It is recommended to set up URL parameters when creating new ads in the future to avoid this issue.

Steps to modify existing ads:

Find the ad that needs to be modified, select it, and click "Preview."

2. Choose "Facebook Post with Comments."

3. Copy the post ID from the preview link.

4. Go to the editing page of the ad, locate the ad settings, and change it to "Use Existing Post."

Then, in the ad creative section, find "Enter Post ID"

input the ID, and confirm by clicking the checkmark.

5. After completing the above steps, scroll down to "Tracking," edit the URL parameters, and finally publish the ad.(There’s no need to delete existing parameters—simply add Attribuly’s parameters on top of the existing ones.)

dm_cam={{campaign.id}}&dm_grp={{adset.id}}&dm_ad={{ad.id}}&dm_net=facebook

Google ads

Google Ads: Attribuly can track most Google ad types, but some ad types are not supported due to API limitations.

Performance Max campaigns can be tracked, but reporting data for specific ad groups, ads, or keywords is not available.

Below is the tracking template that automatically appends to Google ads' final URL, after "auto tracking"

{lpurl}?dm_cam={campaignid}&dm_grp={adgroupid}&dm_ad={creative}&dm_kw={keyword}&dm_net=adwords

To enable "auto tracking"

Linkedin ads

LinkedIn Ads: Attribuly can track most LinkedIn ads, but some ad types are not supported due to API limitations.

Message ads cannot be tracked.
Boosted posts or social ad campaigns cannot be tracked.

Below parameters are updated to Linkedin campaigns for existing & new ads.

dm_net=linkedin&dm_cam={campaign_group_id}&dm_grp={campaign_id}&dm_ad={crative_id}

TikTok Ads

Below parameters are updated to TikTok campaigns for existing & new ads.

dm_net=tiktok&dm_cam=__CAMPAIGN_ID__&dm_grp=__AID__&dm_ad=__CID__

Attribuly supports most TikTok ads. Smart+ campaigns are not supported currently due to API limiations. Please add URL parameters to every Smart+ campaign manually.

Bing ads

Below parameters are updated to Bing campaigns for existing & new ads

{lpurl}?dm_net=Bing_ad&dm_cam={Campaignid}&dm_grp={Adgroupid}&dm_ad={Adid}&dm_kw={keyword:default}

Attribuly supports most Bing ads, as listed below: URL Tracking with Upgraded URLs - Microsoft Advertising API

Ad Type	Expanded Text Ads	Dynamic search ads	Microsoft Advertising in Bing Smart Search	Microsoft Audience Ads	Multimedia Ads	Product ads	Responsive search ads	Vertical ads
Auto tracking	×	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
Notes	Sunsetted from 2023					Support account level

IMPORTANT:

By default, the tracking templates are placed at campaign level, if you add new templates to a lower level, the campaign level templates will be overwritten. Since Bing prioritizes the level at Keywords>Ad>Ad group>Campaign>Account. More information: URL Tracking with Upgraded URLs - Microsoft Advertising API

Snapchat

The "auto tracking" is not available currently. Please use the below tracking template manually.

dm_net=snapchat&dm_cam={{campaign.id}}&dm_grp={{adSet.id}}&dm_ad={{ad.id}}&dm_cam_name={{campaign.name}}&dm_grp_name={{adSet.name}}

Please note:

Attribuly can only track conversion after the tracking template is enabled, no conversion can be tracked at the campaign level without tracking template.

Preciso

There is currently no direct API integration, but Attribuly has a Preciso channel. You need to add the following URL parameters after each landing page URL.

dm_net=preciso&dm_ad={AD_NAME}&dm_cam_name={YOUR_CAMPAIGN_NAME}

FAQ

Do the dynamic parameters work if I put them in the ad's content?

It doesn't work.

How to verify that my ad tracking is accurate?

You can view detailed campaign information of a certain ad click in the Live Events.
You can view the ad account information associated with this campaign.
You can view the spend data associated with this campaign.

Ad tracking in Attribuly