PBA website attribuiton URLs
To get the best campaign granularity results combined with the most accurate attribution in your website attribution data, populate URLs (links), bringing users to your website using the practices detailed in this article.
URL parameters—group and priority
The AppsFlyer website attribution solution supports several campaign parameter classes. The classes are ranked in priority as follows:
-
[Highest priority] PID
- Click IDs from specific channels like Google, DoubleClick, and Microsoft
-
[Lowest priority] UTM
The PBA media source attribution rules determine how a given user is attributed. Parameter classes are ranked by priority. If more than one parameter class is found on a link, the class having the highest priority is awarded the attribution.
Supported parameters
| # | Parameter |
Used for |
Parameter class |
Available in the Dashboard |
PBA raw data field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
pid |
Media source |
PID |
Y |
media_source |
|
2 |
c |
Campaign name |
PID |
Y |
campaign |
|
3 |
af_c_id |
Campaign ID |
PID |
Y |
campaign_id |
|
4 |
af_adset |
Adset name |
PID |
Y |
Extract from query_params |
|
5 |
af_adset_id |
Adset ID |
PID |
Y |
Extract from query_params |
|
6 |
af_ad |
Ad name |
PID |
Y |
Extract from query_params |
|
7 |
af_ad_id |
Ad ID |
PID |
Y |
Extract from query_params |
|
8 |
utm_source |
Media source |
UTM |
Y |
media_source |
|
9 |
utm_medium |
Media type |
UTM |
Y |
media_type |
|
10 |
utm_campagin |
Campaign |
UTM |
Y |
campaign |
URL parameter best practices
Selecting URL parameters
Each parameter class functions in the context of a silo. As such, if you need URLs with multiple classes, the URL must have the relevant parameters of each class. By doing so, your reporting granularity is optimized.
The use of parameters of multiple classes is illustrated in the context of Meta ads as follows:
-
PID group:
www.website.com?pid=facebook_int&c={{campaign.name}}&af_c_id={{campaign.id}}&af_adset={{adset.name}}&af_adset_id={{adset.id}}&af_ad={{ad.name}}&af_ad_id={{ad.id}} -
UTM group:
www.website.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_campaign={{campaign.name}} -
If you combine classes but include only some of the required parameters, AppsFlyer might not provide the full granularity. For example, if you use
www.website.com?utm_source=facebook&c={{campaign.name}}the following occurs:-
AppsFlyer uses the UTM class because there is no PID class and determines the media source using utm_source.
-
However, the campaign can't be determined since c= is part of the PID class, but pid isn't included.
-
To solve this, assuming you need the utm_source for other purposes, consider this option:
www.website.com?pid=facebook_int&c={{campaign.name}}&utm_source=facebook. With this structure, AppsFlyer uses the PID class to identify the media source. Other PID parameters, such as c=, can be included and the utm_source is disregarded because it has a lower priority.
-
Implement dynamic URLs using ad network macros
Use network macros (AKA valuetrack params) to save time when building templates and applying URL parameters for paid campaigns.
Networks use different macros to populate the parameters in the URL. Consequently, you must check ad network documentation to verify that you use the macros correctly. For example, if you want to pass the campaign ID in the af_c_id, you can avoid hard-coding the actual campaign ID for each URL, and just use the macros:
-
Google Adwords:
www.website.com?af_c_id={campaignid} -
Meta ads:
www.website.com?af_c_id={{campaign.id}} -
Pinterest ads:
www.website.com?af_c_id={campaignid} -
Snapchat ads:
www.website.com?af_c_id={{campaign.id}} -
Microsoft ads (Bing):
www.website.com?af_c_id={campaignid}
Consistent case within parameters
Parameter values are case-sensitive. For example, utm_source=channel1 and utm_source=CHANNEL1 are regarded as different media sources. As such, verify that you are consistent with regard to the letter case.
Use Google Ads integration to automate granularity
In the case of Google Ads campaigns, you can get campaign granularity by integrating PBA with your Google Ads account. This ensures that your data is populated with all campaign hierarchy data without the need for PID or UTM parameters on the URL.
Common URL parameter mistakes to avoid
Question marks
- Use only one question mark between the URL landing page and the parameters
- There should be no other question marks used in the URL
For example, www.website.com?parameters
Example incorrect uses:
www.website.com??parameters
www.website.com?parameter1?parameter2
Anchor signs
Anchor signs (#) should not be used in the URL. Use of an anchor sign in a URL can result in the parameters after the sign form not loading and not being collected by our web SDK.