Tracking & DataCross-Domain Tracking
What is Cross-Domain Tracking? Keeping a Click Across Domains
Also known as: cross domain tracking
Short answer
Cross-domain tracking preserves the identity of one visit when a person moves from one of your domains to another, for example from a landing page to a checkout on a different domain. Without it, that move looks like two separate visits.
Why markers get lost
Browser storage is separate per domain. A record written by example.com cannot be read by pay-example.com. So the marker must ride across in the URL, then be stored again on the destination domain.
The places markers most often disappear
| Place | Cause |
|---|---|
| Link shortener redirects | The query string is dropped |
| www to non-www redirects | Server config does not forward parameters |
| Third-party checkout pages | Different domain, parameters not accepted |
| In-app links | An isolated in-app browser opens instead |
A five-minute test
- Open your own ad from a phone.
- Copy the URL after landing. Confirm the Click ID is there.
- Continue to the last page before payment.
- Copy that URL too. The marker must still be present.
- Whichever step dropped it is the step to fix.
Frequently asked questions
- When do I need it?
- When the landing page and the checkout sit on different domains, when your payment provider opens its own domain, and when a form or cart is hosted elsewhere.
- What happens if I skip it?
- The Click ID is lost at the handover, so the sale never links to the ad. Your reports will also show the visit source as your own domain instead of the ad platform.
- How do I test it?
- Click your own ad, then watch the URL at every step through to the last page. The marker parameter must still be there at the end. If it vanishes, find the redirect that stripped it.
Related terms
Konektor guides
Your ad numbers are only as accurate as the data behind them
Konektor captures the Click ID and sends conversions that close on WhatsApp, over the phone, or in a shop back to the ad platform.