Glossary

Postback URL

A postback URL is a server-side callback: when a conversion happens, the advertiser's (or network's) server requests a URL on the tracker's server, passing back the click ID that identifies the original click. Because it is fired server-to-server, it works even when browser cookies and pixels are blocked.

How it works

When the tracker redirects a click to the offer, it appends a unique click ID to the destination URL. The advertiser stores that ID with the session. When the visitor converts, the advertiser's server calls the postback URL — something like https://track.example.com/postback?click_id={click_id}&payout={payout} — substituting the stored ID. The tracker looks up the click, records a conversion against it, and forwards its own postback upstream if an affiliate's tracker needs notifying too.

Postbacks usually carry more than the ID: payout amount, currency, a transaction reference, and an event type so one offer can report registrations, deposits, and rebills separately.

Why it matters

Postbacks are the accounting backbone of performance marketing — money changes hands based on them. Server-to-server delivery makes them far more reliable than pixels: ad blockers, cookie restrictions, and mobile in-app environments cannot silently eat them.

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